OW lOKEAD, 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 







HOW TO READ, 



RBGITE^IMPEI^SOMTE, 



JCP^ / BY 
^ 1/ 

E. B. VARMAN, A. M, 



AUTHOR OF 



^'Principles of Pronunciation" in Worcesters Dic- 
tionary. Practical Orthoepy and Critique. 
Physical Training. Warman on 
i, 7_. the Voice. Etc. Etc. y^p^^^ ?^S9^^f^A 



^^ 



uS 



DEC 131889 , 



"A Book is valuable not for the thought it contains, hut 
for that which it suggests.'' 



CHICAGO: 

W. H. Harrison, Jr. Publishing Co. 

1889. 



COPYRIGHT, 1889, 

BY 

W. H. HARRISON, JR., PUBLISHING CO. 



©ONTSNTg 



Page. 

Article A 100 

Article The ....: 100 

Bible Reading 139 

Bowing •. 105 

CoxjuxcTioxs 98 

Declamatory vs. Natural 104- 

DiMXESs OF Sight, Obscurity, Etc 84 

Dropping The Tone 86 

Emphasis 11 

Exclamations = . 31 

Explanatory Sentences 91 

Eye 79 

Eye Educated 80 

Eye to Audience 80 

Eye ts. Ear 82 

Fitting The Garment 87 

Flexibility 59 

Grammatical Period ys. Period of Thought 48 

Hesitancy 60 

Hymn Reading 160 

Immedlitely Coxxected Emphatic Words 64 

Impersoxatiox 72 

Impersoxation vs. Narration 73 

Individuality 101 

INFLECTIONS 22 

assumixg vs. assertixg 34 

Continuity 30 

Detached 26 

Falling Suspensive 21 

Grouped 26 

Iroxy, Sarcasm, Etc 23 

Opposition of Meaning 23 

Prospective 24 

III 



rv CONTENTS. 

Weakness vs. Strength 23 

Will Asserted 25 

Will Deferred 25 

Interrogations 20 

Interrogatory Sentences 17 

Links of a Chain .^ 58 

Literalness 65 

Mannerisms 102 

Negatives 63 

Parenthetical Sentences 94 

Personal Grief 89 

Poetry , 52 

Poises vs. Pauses 52 

Projection of The Tone 85 

Pulpit Eloquence 177 

Punctuation vs. Pauses , 45 

Quotations 76 

READING, RECITING and IMPERSONATING 68 

Readings 70 

Recitations 70 

Impersonations 72 

Sacrificing Nature 96 

Soliloquies 77 

Sound vs. Sense 103 

STRESS 38 

Radical 38 

Median 40 

Terminal 42 

Thorough 44 

Intermittent 44 

Compound 44 

Subordination 16 

Suspension 62 

Tangible Objects 28 

True and False Elocution.. 108 

Unfamiliar Terms 98 

Words That Echo The Sens: 89 



PREFACE. 



We present this treatise as the result of j^ears 
of experience and observation ; not alone as the 
public reader upon the rostrum, but in those 
closer relations of teacher and pupil which serve 
to make these pages practical. 

Many years ago in the Boston University 
School of Oratory, that great and good man, 
the late Prof. Lewis B. Monroe, said to the 
author: '* We do not leave this world till our 
time comes ; but if our work is unBnished, the 
mantle will fall on some one else, that he may 
complete it for us. You, my friend, are espec- 
ially called to this branch of work, and you are 
sure of success, for your energy links with it the 
high ideal of the art you represent. I have no 
fear that you will ever pander to the tastes of 

(5) 



PREFACE. 



those ^who fail to discriminate between the true 
and the false. " 

This man — whom to know was to love — has 
passed *' the bound of life -where we lay our bur- 
dens down," and he has left ''the cross " only to 
gain "the crown." His influence still remains, 
and ever ^11 remain, with his pupils, and more 
especially with those of us who were so favored 
as to be brought more completely wthin his 
soul's radiation by a nearness of association 
not kno^wn in the class-room. To him the 
author is largely indebted for instruction, hints 
and suggestions dropped by the way, -which, 
added to his previous and later experience, he 
has endeavored to put in such form that "He 
who runs may read." 

The question is often asked, " To what extent 
shall -we carry the matter of expression in the 
school-room?" 

General school reading, of all grades, requires 
that heed should be given to the distinctive 
utterance of all the elements ; to the quality of 
the voice ; to the erect position of the body ; and . 



PREFACE. 7 

to the training of the eye in looking up from the 
book. Make the scenes Hve again, at least make 
them suggestive, without striking attitudes or 
resorting to gesticulation. Reserve those things 
for oratorical contests and ''commencements." 

Do not, however, go to the other extreme 
and think it merely necessary to call the words. 
Give them life and meaning. Reading v^ithout 
emotion is what drawing is to painting — mereh^ 
an outline. Get into the atmosphere of the 
selection before you attempt to breathe it out 
on those around you. This may all be accom- 
plished without the much dreaded elocution 
entering the school-room. 

To the public reader, or speaker, there are 
three essential requisites which he should en- 
deavor to possess. 

1. The thought should be under perfect 
control. 

2. The body should be under perfect control. 

3. The voice should be under perfect control. 
This manual is intended to meet the re- 
quirements of the £.rst essential element. Its 



PREFACE. 



mission is to serve as an aid to the student in 
the analysis of thought, whether he is still with- 
in the Walls of the school or college, or ^whether 
he has taken upon himself the responsibilities of 
the pulpit or of the rostrum or of the stage ; for 
one should never cease to be a student. 

Knowing that the books upon the subject of 
reading -which „flood the market to-day have 
only partially dealt with the principles of read- 
ing, of voice, and of gesture, combining them in 
one — frequently with numerous selections — we 
have concluded to devote these -pages exclusively 
to the practical principles of readings with prac- 
tical applications of every rule given. There will, 
therefore, be nothing in this volume concerning 
voice culture or gesture, as -we consider each of 
these of such value as to require such full and 
special treatment as -we have given to this 
subject. 

In view of this fact and this need, we have J«i 
press a volume devoted exclusively to the voice 
— how to train it, and how to care for it; also, 
a manual devoted exclusively to gestures and 



PREFACE. 



attitudes, and to the general bearing of the 
body, according to the Delsartean theory. These 
books, Hke the present one, will contain no se- 
lections, but will be purely practical, enabling 
the reader or speaker to place his voice and 
body under such perfect control that both will 
act in harmony with the spontaneous outbursts 
of nature, without causing the speaker to think 
of or make perceptible the mechanism necessary 
to produce the required results. This little 
volume will be found to be invaluable as a text- 
book for the student, for the teacher, and for 
the public reader or speaker. It will not only 
aid in divining the thought, but will be of use in 
clothing it with the proper expression. 

THE HUTHOR. 



HOW TO READ, 

RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 



Reading, to be effective, should be natural; 
not necessarily natural to the reader, but to the 
thought to be expressed. Read as you talk — 
but on the condition that you talk well. It is 
essential that the reader should get into the 
atmosphere surrounding the author (or sug- 
gested by the selection) ere he attemps its ex- 
pressive rendering. There must be impression 
before there can be expression, otherwise the 
reading ^11 be but the calling of words. We 
should not utter words as words, but thoughts 
as thoughts. 

Carefully consider the fundamental principles 
of expression. The most important, and, con- 
sequently, the first to which your attention 
is invited, is 

EiVLPHKSIS. 

Every sentence contains one or more em- 

(11) 



12 HOW TO READ, 

phatic ^words. In order to determine the same, 
you must come en rapport with the author. 
A clear perception is essential to a good 
performance. 

How shall we determine the emphatic word 
in a sentence ? 

Rule. — The emphatic word is the thought 
word, i. e., the word containing the principal 
thought. 

When the subject has been introduced, the 
new idea becomes the emphatic word. There 
maybe some difference of opinion as to this new 
idea ; hence we will offer two tests which will 
serve as true guides. 

TEST I. 

The emphatic word in a sentence is the one 
than can least of all be dispensed with and 
retain the thought. 

TEST II. 

The emphatic word — by transposing the 
words in a sentence — can be made the climac- 
teric \\rord. 

To apply these tests, we will quote a few lines 
from "Sale of Old Bachelors." 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 13 

EXAMPLE I. 

" It seemed that a. law had been recently made 
That a tax on old bachelors^ pates should be laid." 

The Italicized words are the new ideas ; the 
thought words ; the ^words that cannot be dis- 
pensed with and retain the thought. We will 
make them the climacteric words. 

" It seemed that recently had been made a law 
That on old bachelors' pates should be laid a tax.'' 

or, 
"That a tax should be laid on the pates of old bachelors." 

Suggestion. — When any paragraph or stanza, 
is in dispute, place the same upon a blackboard, 
and underscore those words considered em- 
phatic; also place therewith the marks of 
inflection which ^were given to the ^vords when 
taken with the context. Erase all the other 
Avords ; those remaining should so completely 
contain the thought that, should any one enter 
the room, he would be able — by the words and 
inflections before him — so to comprehend the 
thought as to fill the ellipses with his o\vn lan- 
guage, thus making the stanza or paragraph 
complete. 

Note. — Bear in mind that the stress should alwaj^s be 
given to the accented sj'llable of the emphatic word. 



14 HOW TO READ, 

We will give another and an excellent method . 

Suggestion. — While reading, imagine before 
you one partially deaf, so much so that it would 
necessitate making the new ideas or thought 
words quite salient ; so salient that, w^ere he to 
hear none other than the emphatic words and 
their respective inflections, he would have no 
difficulty in grasping the entire thought. 

This subject is of such importance that we 
will, herewith, make a practical application of 
this method. 

A pupil may insist upon emphasizing the 
word ''pates," while another thinks it should 
be the word "laid." Now call to your aid the 
deaf person. He hears 

law — tax — pates 

versus 

law — tax — laid 

Mark the result. Inasmuch as emphasis is 
is founded upon contrast, the deaf person will 
naturally seek a contrast to the word pates; 
hence it is not surprising to hear him say, "Why 
did "they not make a law to put the 'tax' on 
some one's ' feet ? ' I wonder upon whose ' pates ' 
it was 'laid? ' " Or on the other hand he may 
say — if "laid" is made emphatic — "they were 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 15 

very kind to have the 'law' signify that the 
'tax' must be 'laid.' I wonder why they did 
not thro wit ! ' ' Another application of the tests 
of emphasis may be found in the following 
hymn: 

EXAMPLE II. 

• ** There is a fountain filled with blood, 

Drawn from Immaj^uei's veins." 

We have marked the emphatic words ; the 
new ideas ; the words that cannot be dispensed 
with and retain the thought. In nine tenths of 
cases the emphasis in second line is placed on the 
word ' ' veins . ' ' The blood implies the veins ; the 
word veins can be wholly dispensed with, with- 
out detriment to the thought. 

TEST. 

Fountain — blood — Immanuel 

versus 

Fountain — blood — veins. 

The question naturally arises, "What is to be 
done with the vi^ords that are not v^holly essen- 
tial to the expression of the thought? " 

They should be subordinated. 



16 HOW TO READ, 

SUBORDINATION. 
Rule.— Whatever is subordinate in meaning, 
should be subordinate in pitch. 

EXAMPLE. 

The words following "law," tax," "bachelors," and 
the words following "fountain" and "Immanuel," should 
be subordinated. 

The main cause of the lack of good reading 
in our public schools is due, largely, to either a 
lack of knowledge when to subordinate certain 
ideas, or the inability so to do. We may know 
what are the subordinate ideas, yet be unable 
to vocally control them. There is but one way 
out of this difficulty, and in securing that we 
shall be able to remove one of the greatest 
stumbling-blocks from the path of reading; viz., 
monotony and, consequently, lack of expression. 

Rule. — The emphatic word should be taken 
out of the level of all subordinate words, either 
preceding or succeeding it. 

The tendency is to let the emphatic word slip 
directly off from the level of the preceding 
words. We v^^ill take, for example, one of the 
lines previously quoted, and diagram it as it 
should be given. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 17 

EXAMPLE. 



Drawn from ^^s 



Or 

instead of '^■S'. 

Drawn from Immanuel's veins. 



The endeavor to emphasize the ^word from 
the level of the preceding ones will bring some 
unimportant ^word to the notice of the hearer, 
thus making the wrong word emphatic, and 
thereby wholly destroying the sense. By mak- 
ing a slight poise in the voice just preceding the 
accented syllable of the emphatic word, it will 
not be difficult to make that v^ord quite salient; 
and ^when this is done, the subordinate ideas 
will readily drop to their places, and will be dis- 
tinctly heard without detracting from the 
thought word. 

We will give another illustration, which will 
not only serve as a test of emphasis, but will 
make clear all the preceding points, besides 
introducing the rule for interrogations. 



mTERROGHTORY SENTENCES. 

Zenobia has been arraigned by her people on 
the charge of ambition. She acknowledges the 



18 HOW TO READ, 

charge, saying : 

"I am charged with pride and ambition. The charge is 
true and I glory in its truth." 

The second "truth " is here an old idea, and, 
as such, is subordinated to "glory," "And I 
glory in its truth." 



"And I °<>. 



^/o. 



\. 

But we pass to the sentence of \vhich ^we 
spoke, as including all the preceding rules, and 
we will illustrate the one of interrogations. 

EXAMPLE. 

"Does it not become a descendant of the Ptolemies and 
of Cleopatra ? " 

Considering the fact that she is known by 
her people to be a descendant of the Ptolemies 
and of Cleopatra, that thought becomes subor- 
dinate to another which is expressed in just one 
word. Let us look at it a moment. The ques- 
tion hinges wholly upon the fact of such pride 
and ambition becoming a descendant of such 
royal blood. Hence that one word "become" 
will serve a.s a test — such as may satisfactorily 



KECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 



19 



be given to all emphatic words— to prove that. 



1. The thought word. 

2. The new idea. 

3. The word that cannot be dis- 
pensed with. 

4. The word that the deaf man 
must hear. 

5. The word that can l3e made 
climacteric. 

6. The word to which all others 
are subordinated. 



The emphatic word is 



We will diagram it, and thus illustrate the 
fact: 



'x-^°-".., 



Docs it not 



esc, 



^^d. 



^nt 



^tc. 



Thus the word '^ become" — by being closely 
joined to the preceding thought — may be so 
spoken as to give the v^hole idea. It can be 
made the climacteric word by transposition, 
which will in no v^ay interfere ^th the thought, 
or with the inflection. 

EXAMPLE. 

A descendant of the Ptolemies and of Cleopatra docs it 



not become 



20 HOW TO READ, 

What ! give it a falling inflection when it can 
be answered by yes or no ? Decidedly so in this 
case, or in any case where the question is not 
asked for information, or where the answ^er is 
predetermined in the mind of the questioner. 



mTERROGilTIONS. 

Rule. — If you defer to the will or knowledge 
of others, as in preceding example, give a rising- 
inflection. If you assert your own will, give a 
falling inflection. 

By the latter inflection, Zenobia did not 
admit of any doubt in the matter, and hy her 
imperativeness did not allows her people to ques- 
tion it a moment, but asserted her will w^ith 
such dignity and grace as to have them readily 
coincide with her. 

This method of handling the interrogatorv 
sentences is of inestimable value : 

1. To the teacher when conducting a school. 

2. To the minister w^hen addressing a con- 
gregation. 

3. To the lawyer when appealing to a jury. 

4. To the politician when haranguing the 
masses. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 21 

EXCLRMRTIONB. 

Exclamatory sentences, like interrogatives, 
are governed in their inflections by the matter 
of assertion or deference. 

In addressing the: Deity, there should alwa3^s 
be deference; in speaking of the Deity, there 
should always be reverence. 

Rule. — When speaking to any one, give a ris- 
ing inflection ; when speaking of any one, give a 
falling infection. 

EXAMPLE 1. 

'' Jesus ! lover of my soul I " 

EXAMPLE IL 

"Jesus ! the dearest uame on earth! " 

EXAMPLE HI. 

"I, au itchiuo; palm !" 

EXAMPLE lY. 

"Chastisement! " 

We will next consider the subject of inflec- 
tions, and present our diagrams, and explan- 
ations thereof: 



22 



HOW TO READ, 



Inflections. < 



INFLECTIONS. 

Opposition of meaning requires 
opposition of inflection. 

Weakness vs. Strength. 

Irony, Sarcasm, etc. V A 

Prospective (doubt) / 

Retrospective (positive) \ 

Will deferred. / 

Will asserted. \ 

Grouped, (three or more 
thoughts)/ /\ 

Detached, (three or more 
thoughts) \\\ 

Falling suspensive. V 

Continuity. — ^— — 

Assuming vs. Asserting. V A 

Interrogations. / \ 

Exclamations. / \ 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 23 

Opposition of Meaning. 

Opposition of Inflections. 

Rule. — Whenever there is contrasted mean- 
ing, there should be contrasted inflection. 
EXAMPLE. ('^ Poor Little Jim.") 

" The cottage was a thatched one, the outside, etc. 
But all within that little cot," etc. 



Weakness vs. Strength. 

Rule. — The continuous use of rising inflection 
is indicative of weakness — either mentally or 
physically — on the part of the reader or speaker. 
Strength, courage, flrmness, etc., are character- 
ized by the falling inflection. 

EXAMPLE. 

A beggar asks for alms. He defers to the will or knowl- 
edge of the person addressed, and it will invariablj^ be with 

.... . ^ 

the nsing inflection. ''Give me a penny?" But when 

Shjdock wants his bond, he asserts his will and manifests 
his strength. I stay here on my BOKJi. 



Irony, Sarcasm, Etc. 

Rule. — All expressions of irony and sarcasm 
are given either with a rising or with a falling 



24 HOW TO READ, 

circumBex, dependent wholly upon the nature 
of the context. 

EXAMPLE. 

Indeed. Indeed. 



Prospective vs. Retrospective. 
Rule. — In the expression of a thought, the 
fundamental part of which is ^wrapt in doubt, 
the uncertainty should be expressed by a 
rising inflection^ but the positiveness, or cer- 
tainty, should be expressed by the falling- 
inflection. 

EXAMPLE. ( ' ' Paul Revere 's Ride. ' ' ) 

" For suddenly all his thoughts are bent 

On a shadowy something far away, 
Where the river widens to meet the bay. — 

A line of black that bends and floats 

On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats. " 

*' The word '^ something^' is emphatic, but as 
he does not know what that ''something" is, 
the doubt or prospective situation causes a 
r/siT^^* inflection. But he does knowthat he sees 
a line of " black ^^ and that it has the appearance 
of " boats, ^^ in consequence of which decision or 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 25 

positiveness, it should be read with the falling 
inflection on these words. 

The words " Far a^ray w^here the river widens 
to meet the bay " — are explanatory, and should 
be treated as such, making them wholly subor- 
dinate to the rest of the thought, not even 
borro\ving color from the secrecy of what pre- 
cedes or succeeds. 

^EXAMPLE. NO. 2. '' The Face against the Pane." 

" Four ancient fishermen 
In the i^leasant autumn air, 
Came toiling up the sands, 

With something in their hands, — 

Two bodies, stark and white." 

The doubt, as in the preceding example, is 
expressed in the word ^^ something''' b3^ giving 
it the rising inflection, while the positiveness is 
asserted as soon as it is discovered what that 
something is; hence the falling inflection is 
placed on the word "bodies." 



Will Deferred, Will Asserted. 

Rule. — When deferring to the will or knowl- 
edge of others give the rising inflection ; when 



26 HOW TO READ, 

asserting- jour own wi7/, give sl falling- inflection. 

This rule has previously been given v\rhen 

dealing with the interrogatives, but is used at 

all times in deciding points of deference or will. 

EXAMPLE . ( " Ride of JennieMcNeal ' ' ) 

Carleton. 

" Madam, please give us a bit to eat ? " 

A British officer, and a dozen or more dra- 
goons, enter the house of a lady and het 
daughter, who are living on neutral ground. 
They w^ant something to eat and intend to have 
it. The officer therefore asks for it with a fall- 
ing infection. Were he to give the rising inflec- 
tion, he would defer to her will, and might be 
refused. It is imperative, commanding, and, 
Avithal, gentlemanly. 



Thoughts Grouped and Detached. 
Rule. — Consider carefully as to whether the 
author had all the thoughts in his mind at time 
of writing the hrst one of a series, or whether 
they suggested themselves separately. If the 
former, then they should be grouped send so ex^ 
pressed by giving a rising infection on all but 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 27 

the last. If the thoughts ^were taken sepa- 
rately then a falling inflection should be given 
to each. 

In our diagram it will be observed that we 
have placed three inflections opposite each of 
these forms, signifying thereby three thoughts 
or objects. It may be three v^ords or three 
clauses, generally treated as a series. Our rule 
will apply to a/2jr number. We choose three for 
the sake of convenience. 

EXAMPLE. (Tell's Address to the Alps.) 
" O sacred forms, how proud 3"ori look! 

V 

How high 3"Ou lilt j'our heads into the skj\ 

"^ '^. > 

How huge you are, how mighty, and how Iree! 

Ye are the things that tower, that shine ; ' whose smile 

r . "V . 

Makes glad, — whose frown is terrible ; whose forms, etc." 

As Tell gazed upon the mighty Alps, it is 
beyond controversy that these thoughts of 
"proud, high, huge, might}^, free" were one by 
one suggested to him, and from the fullness of his 
heart he exclaimed them, not declaimed them. 
Inasmuch as w^e deal with thoughts as with 
tangible objects we may by the use of tangible 
objects more clearly illustrate the principle. 



28 HOW TO READ, 

THNGIBLE OBdJECTS, ETC. 

Thoughts grouped and thoughts detached. 

Hold up some object, — a book, for instance. 
Ask the pupils to tell you what you hold in your 
hand. They will answer, with a falling inflec- 
tion, *'a book." Take up another object — a 
slate. Repeat the question, and they will again 

answer, with a falling inflection, *'a slate." 
Present still another object — a pencil. They will 
ans-wer you a third time, or any number of 
times that the articles are taken separately, ^th 

a falling inflection, '' a pencil." This illustrates 
thoughts when taken separately. Hold all the 
objects at one time in the hand, in the same 
order, and repeat the question. The answer 
will unhesitatingly be given with a rising inflec- 
tion on the first two and a falling on the last — a 

book, a slate and a pencil. This illustrates 
thoughts grouped^ all being in the mind of the 
speaker or writer at the time the first one of the 
series is expressed. 



Trailing Suspensive. 
This inflection is of the utmost importance 
to the reader or speaker. It is entirely distinct- 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 29 

ive from the intense falling inflection, or falling 
inflection proper. When a thought is complete, 
and 3^ou desire to impress it upon your hearers, 
it is best to give the intense falling inflection, 
following it with an appropriate pause. But 
there are w^ords and clauses, the effectiveness of 
which ^would be utterly destroyed ^vere you to 
give the intense falling inflection, or w^ould be 
greatly weakened were you to give the rising 
inflection. 

Rule. — Where it is desired to impress by an 
infection, yet, hold the mind of the hearer in 
readiness for continuous thought, while dwell- 
ing on other parts of the picture that make up 
its entirety', it will be necessary to give the fall- 
ing-inflection sufficient to impress, but suspend 
it just w^hen leaving it, in order to impress it 
and retain the attention. 

EXAMPLE. (''Revolutionary Rising.") 

—T. B. Read. 

" And now before the ojjen door — 
The warrior priest had ordered so — 
The enlisting- trumpet's sudden roar 
Rang through the chapel, o'er and o'er, 
Its long, reverberating blow; 



30 HOW TO READ, 

So loud and clear, it seemed the ear ' 
Of dust j^ death must wake and hear. 
And there the startling drum and fife 
Fired the living with fiercer life ; 
While overhead, v^rith w^ild increase, 
Forgetting his ancient toll of peace, 
The great bell swung as ne'er before. 
It seeined as it would never cease ; 
And everj^ word its ardor flung 
From off its jubilant iron tongue 
Was, War! War! War!" 

Not an intense falling inflection should be 
given throughout this entire stanza. The whole 
scene is one of continuous action. The trumpet 
continues its blowing; the reverberations con- 
tinue in the chapel ; the drum and fife continue 
to ''stir the living with fiercer life ; "the bell, '' as 
if it v^ould never cease," continues its warlike 
and thrilling vibrations. 



Continuity. 

Closely allied to the falling suspensive inflec- 
tion is what may be termed continuity. Though 
unlike, in the absence of a downward slide, it is 
always continuous. It is generally a rising 
inflection, though sometimes a monotone. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 31 

Rule. — Continuity is expressed bj^ the sug-- 
gestiveness of the words intended to impress 
the hearer, with either continuous sound or 
motion. 

Were the falHng inflection to be given, espec- 
ially on the marked words of each of the follow- 
ing examples, it would arrest the thought in 
the mind of the listener, thus producing a very 
unsatisfactory result. 

EXAMPLES. 

A light hammer, as in Dicken's " Cheerful Locksmith." 
"Tink, tink, tink, clear as a silver bell!" 
The waves, as in " The Face against the Pane." 
'' And the breakers on the beach 
Making moan, making moan." 
The wind, as in "Paul Revere's Ride," 

" Seeming to whisper — all is well." 
The trees, as in " The Face against the Pane." 
" The willow-tree is blo\vn 
To and fro, to and fro." 
A clock, as in " The Old Clock on the Stairs." 
' ' Forever — never ! 
Never — forever ! 
A belU as in " Rising in 1776." 



32 HOW TO READ, 

*' And every word its ardor flung 
From off its jubilant iron tongue 
Was, Wir ! War ! War ! ' ' 

The inflections have a most marked influence 
upon an audience. 

You may drive the thought home, you may 
leave it to the decision of others, or, by the use 
of this last inflection, the continuity in the mind 
of the reader ^will secure the same continuity in 
the mind of the hearer. Though the speaker's 
voice has ceased , the infection causes the ham- 
mer to continue its cheerful tinkling-; the waves 
their moaning-; the wind its sighing; the willow- 
tree its impressiveness of human form and 
suffering. 

*' Till it seems like some old crone 
Standing out there all alone, 

With her woe ! 
Wringing, as she stands, 
Her gaunt and palsied hands." 

The clock continues its ticking, v^hich is ever 
indicative of 

" Mournfulness or glee, 
Even as our hearts mav be." 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 33 

The hell continues its ringing, whether its 
sound is that of 

"The mellow wedding bells, 
The loud alarum bells, 
The tolling of the bells," 

or whether it is sending forth its particular 
creed, 

" Salvation's free ! we tell ! we tell I " 

or breathing the notes of " War ! " 

We will cite one more example of continuity 
produced bj^ the reader in speaking of the clock, 
even where it is removed from the ^vords the 
clock seems to utter. 

" It echoes along the vacant hall, 
Along the ceiling, along the floor." 

The reader should, by his inflections and 
tones, be able to take the hearer through all the 
old rooms, and breathe upon him the ]oj or 
sadness, as the case may be, and, in the use of 
the inflection of continuity, the ticking of the 
clock should not cease, mentally, during the 
rendering of any portion of the poem. In the 
rendition of the above lines, we should distinctly 



34 HOW TO READ, 

hear it as it seems to fill the hall with its vibrt. 
tions. The reader will find that a judicious use. 
fullness and continuity of the liquids (/ and r) 
and nasals {m, n, and ng) will add greatly to 
the charm of reading. We do not wish to be 
understood as introducing a false elocution;/. e., 
playing with the voice, but we desire that thert 
should be a natural suggestiveness that will 
bring the picture vividly before your hearers. 
The general tendency is to slight these nasal 
elements. Give to every element its due quan- 
tity and quality] no more, no less. 



Interrogations — See page 20. 
Exclamations — See page 21, 



Assuming vs. Asserting. 
Rule. — What has been accepted as a univer- 
sal fact should not be asserted hj sl falling infec- 
tion as though it ^were unknown, but given ^th 
a circumflex, or, at times, a rising inflection, 
thus assuming that your hearers possess the 
knowledge. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 35 

EXAMPLE NO. 1. (" Evening at the Farm.") 

-— /. T. Trowhridg-e. 

" The straw's in the stack, the hay in the mow ; " 

We expect to find just such a. condition of 
things on every v^ell regulated farm. ; hence there 
should be no assertion made by giving an in- 
tense falling inflection on "stack " and "mow," 
for you should assume that your hearers know 
this to be true. 

EXAMPLE NO. 2. (Ride of Jennie McNeal.") 

— Carleton. 
"Paul Revere was a rider bold ; 
Well has his valorons deeds been told. 
Sheridan's ride was a glorious one ; 
Often it has been dwelt upon. 
But why should men do all the deeds 
On which the love of a patriot feeds ? 
Hearken to me while I reveal 
The dashing ride of Jennie McNeal." 

Instead of asserting, as is often done by 
public readers, that Paul Revere was a rider 
bold, and that Sheridan's ride was a glorous 
one, you should acknowledge that your hearers 
are cognizant of these facts. The falling inflec- 
tion given to ."bold" and "glorious" has the 



36 HOW TO READ, 

effect of misleading your hearers, for it gives 
them the impression that they are to hear more 
concerning these men, v^hereas neither the men 
nor the deeds are again mentioned. The names 
"Revere" and "Sheridan" are brought in 
marked contrast with "Jennie McNeal's ;" hence 
the reader should give a circumflex on the last 
syllable of "Revere," and the first syllable of 
"Sheridan," — the accented syllables, — and a sus- 
pensive inflection on "bold" and "glorious." 
The author asks in tones of sarcasm, (alv\rays 
expressed by circumflex) 

" But why should men do all these deeds ?" 

He does not intend that we should put any 
stress on deeds, but on men as contrasted with 
the heroine. By assuming t\i& knowledge of the 
audience concerning these men, there will be no 
assertion made till the heroine is introduced. 

The foregoing includes all practical rules on 
inflection. We would, however, advise that the 
ear be sufl^ciently trained to recognize the vari- 
ous forms. A few moments daily, in the prac- 
tice of examples given by the teacher, will be 
found to be very beneficial. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 37 

Take Italian A (a) and give a falling in- 
flection, each time from a higher pitch — 



ah 



ah 



. ah 



ah 



ah 



Take the same from a rising' inflection, each 
time from a higher pitch — 



ah. 



ah. 



ah. 



ah I 



ah I 



Teach the falling circumflex A b}/ beginning 
with a rising ah /, then a falling ah\ , then join 
them A . 

Also teach rising circumflex V by beginning 
with a falling ah \ , then a rising ah /, then 
join them V . 



38 HOW TO READ, 

STRESS. 
Emphasis is simply force. Stress is the man- 
ner of applying that force. Yon may emphasize 
the right word, but may not emphasize it 
rightly ; i. e., not give it the proper stress ; stress 
also includes the special quality of voice. There 
are six forms of stress, known by the following 
names and characters : 





In Reading. 




In Music. 


1 


Radical (initial). 


> 


Explosive. 


2 


Median (middle). 


o 


Swell. 


3 


Terminal (final). 


< 


Crescendo. 


4 


Thorougli (through). 


= 


Organ tone. 


5 


Compound. 


>< 




6 


Intermittent ( broken ) . 


_ _ _ _ 


Tremolo. 



RHDICflL STRESS. 
Rule (1) The radical stress (as the sign or 
character > indicates) is somewhat explosive in 
its nature. It may be used in light or conversa-^ 
toinal reading, and, ^vhen judiciously done, lends 
life and sparkle to ^what would otherwise be 
dull, thus giving clearness and decision to the 
utterance. It is also used in abrupt or startling 
emotion, and in the expression of positive 
convictions. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. ' 39 

EXAMPLE-I. 
" Give us, O give us the man who sings at his work." 

EXAMPLE II. 

Exert your talents and distinguish youself, and don't 
think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry, 
that you retire. 

EXAMPLE m. 

V v -v 

" To arms! to arms! to arms! they cry, 

Grasp the shield and draw the sword ; 

V 

Lead us to Phillippi's lord: 

V V 

Let us conquer him or die ! " 

Great care should be taken, in the use of this 
stress, to avoid the tendency to the high, light, 
narrow, contracted tones so often used upon the 
platform when addressing large audiences, 
thinking it necessary to raise the pitch of voice, 
instead of increasing the po wer. The prevailing 
school-room tone is a fair sample of the radical 
stress misapplied. The voice being pitched so 
high as to make it cold and disagreeable in its 
quality, being but a statement of facts, without 
any heart element in it, and much less vitaHty. 



40 HOW TO READ, 

ThivS arises, largely, from the fact that the 
schools develop the mental, at an expense of the 
moral (heart) and vital (bodily) growth. 



MEDmN STRESS. 

Rule. — The Median Stress (as the charac- 
ter <> indicates) is caused by a swelling- and 
gradual diminishing of the voice on the accented 
syllable of the M^ord. 

EXAMPLE. 

■v 

O, precious hours. 

O, golden prime. 

This stress represents the moral or heart 
element, and should penetrate all others. A 
mere statement of facts, being exclusively 
mental, is of itself cold and heartless. The 
purely mental deals with details, but the moral 
and vital never. 

EXAMPLE. 

"Flower in the crannied wall ; 

V 

I pluck you out of the crannies; 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 41 

V 

Hold you here root and all, in my hand, 

Little flower — but if I could understand 
What you are, root and all, and all in all, 

I should know what God and man is." 

The tendency in school reading is to give the 
entire emphasis in this stanza by the use of rad- 
ical stress. By so doing there is a coldness per- 
vading it, a lack of the heart element, so that, 
when the word ''understand" is emphasized, it 
is done in such a way as to lead one to think 
that the reader desires to understand through 
the head, exclusive of the heart. Your under- 
standing and knowledge of God should be 
through the heart as well as the head. By the 
use of this median stress w^e are brought in 
more direct sympathy with the author and 
the speaker. This stress should be used in 
all selections of an emotional nature. Its use 
in conversation shows culture and refinement; 
the lack of it is very marked. The use of thor- 
ough stress is a sure indication of a lack of re- 
finement. 

EXAMPLE n. 

" W/20 was her :^ti2er? 
Who was her mother? 



42 HOW TO READ, 

Had she a sister ? 

Had she a brother? 

Or was there a dearer one 

Still, and a nearer one 

Yet, than all other? " 



TERMINHL STRESS. 
Rule. — The terminal stress — as the character 
(<) indicates, is abrupt at the close of the 
sound. It is vital in its nature. It is ^well illus- 
trated by the furious bark of a dog when pre- 
ceded by a deep gro^. It is as opposite to that 
of the mental as is the bark of a large dog to 
that of the little snapping cur. The one clearly 
represents the vital tone — terminal stress — ^by 
its breadth, and the force given at the end\ the 
other as clearly represents the mental tone — 
radical stress — by its narrowness, and the force 
at the beginning. 

EXAMPLE I. 

1 . " Blaze, with your serried columns, 

I will not bend the knee." 

EXAMPLE II. 

2. "But out upon this halt-faced fellowship." 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 43 

These three essential forms of stress require 
special attention before illustrating the three 
that are less used in general reading. We desire 
to impress more clearh- and forcibly the different 
degrees oi pitch and quality of voice represented 
by the radical, median and terminal stress. 

These three forms of stress, qualities of voice, 
and the effect produced by each msiy be well 
illustrated by a pyramid, thus : 



Stress. 


Quality 


of 


Effect upon 




Voice. 




an Audience. 


Radical. / 


\ Mental. 




Disputatious. 


Median. /_ 


\ Moral. 




Emotional. 


Terminal. / 


\ Vital. 




Antag-onistic. 



The intellectual power is of the mind. 
The moral power is of the soul. 
The vital powder is of the body. 
Inasmuch as 

The intellect is cold. 
The heart is warm. 
The passions are hery. 
the reader should 

Mo ve the passion s . 
Touch the heart. 
Interest the mind. 



44 HOW TO READ, 

THOROUGH STRESS, 
Rule. — The thorough stress of tone, as the 
character (=) indicates, is fullness and stead- 
iness, used in calling • or shouting to such a 
distance, as to necessitate a prolonged or sus- 
tained volume of voice. 

EXAMPLE I. 

Boat ahoy! 

EXAMPLE II. 

" Forward, the Light Brigade! 
Charge for the guns ! " 



COMPOWUD STRESS. 
Rule. — The compound stress— as the charac- 
ter ( >< ) indicates — is composed of the radical 
and terminal stress. It is closely allied to the 
circumflex, and it is used in similar expressions. 

EXAMPLE. 

" Hath a dog money ? " 



INTERMITTENT STRESS. 
Rule. — The intermittent stress — as the char- 
acter ( ) indicates — is a broken or 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 45 

tremulous quality of voice. It may be used 
with great effect in the delineation of character, 
when representing old age or in the expression 
of^ie£ 

EXAMPLE I. 

"Pity the sorrows of a poor old man, 
Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door." 

EXAMPLE 11. 

' ' Swdft to be hurled — 
Anywhere, an^^w^here 
Out of the A;vorld ! " 



PUNCTUATION vs, PAUSES, 

Points in writing and pauses in speaking, are 
often at variance. 

Points belong to the grammatical construc- 
tion, pauses to the delivery. 

"Every selection, prose or poetry, has two 
sets of punctuation marks ; one visible, the 
other invisible; one made by the printer, the 
other by the reader." Those made by the reader 
are called pauses of thought, and should occur 
wherever the thought demands a pause. No 
rule can be given as to the length of the pause. 



46 HOW TO READ, 

as it may not always be rendered in the same 
manner by the same reader : so entirely does it 
depend upon the occasion, the surroundings, 
and the spirit of the reader, when giving ex- 
pression to the thought. 



RHETORICAL PHUSE 

Rule. — Rhetorical pause is made either before 
or after the utterance of an important thought; 
if made before, it awakens curiosity and excites 
expectation as to that which follows; if it is 
made after, it carries the mind back to that 
\^hich has already been said. 

EXAMPLE.— (Sheridan's Ride.) 

" And the wave of retreat checked its course there because 
The sight of the master compelled \t to pause." 

To read it as punctuated, not a pause till end 
of second line, would require more care in regard 
to the breath than to the sense, for the latter 
would be wholly obscured. The emphasis 
should be on the words ''wave of retreat" — as a 
phrase word — and on the word ''checked," 
making the first rhetorical pause at the word 
"checked," thus carrying the mind back to what 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 47 

has been said; this part of the picture is com- 
plete in itself, and should be expressed v/ith the 
falling suspensive inflection. 

Place a rhetorical pause after the word 
"master," carrying the mind more directly to 
the hero. Follow this closely with a full median 
stress on the word "compelled," expressing it in 
such a manner as to show the strong compul- 
sion. It will be found that the words Italicized, 
if given ^th the proper stress and pause on 
each, ^11 tell the entire story. Let it be borne 
in mind that a rhetorical pause will have but 
little w^eight unless the pause be filled with 
thought. It is only by this continuity of 
thought on the part of the reader that he can 
control the thought in the mind of the hearer. 

Punctuation is essential to the grasping of 
the thought of the author; nothing more. 

By the punctuation you, as students, per- 
ceive \hy the pauses you, as readers, interpret. 

EXAMPLE I. 

Woman without her man is a brute. 

EXAMPLE n. 

Let the toast be dear woman. 



48 HOW TO READ, 

We need the punctuation in the above, to 
guide us as to the interpretation. 

They were read by the president of a banquet 
as though punctuated thus : — 

1. "Woman without her man, is a brute." 

2. "Let the toast be, dear woman ! " 

but they should be read as follows : — 

1. Woman ! without her, man is a brute. 

2. Let the toast be — Dear woman! 

'*The influence of our system of grammat- 
ical punctuation, as ordinarily taught, is a cor- 
ruption of natural delivery." 

The old method of counting so many at a 
comma, so many at a colon, etc., was no more 
apt to destroy the sense of the reading than is 
the yet prevailing method of causing the vorce 
always to fall at a period or always to rise at a 
comma. 



Grammatical Period vs. Period of Thought. 
Rule.— When the end of the climax in 
thought is reached^ — no matter in what part of 
a sentence — the period should be placed there in 
the delivery of that thought. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 49 



EXAMPLE I. 



1. " I'm nearer my home to-day 
Than ever I've been before. " 

The words marked are the emphatic ones. 
One of the three words will receive the strongest 
emphasis. 

If the couplet were given in its isolated form, 
the main emphasis would fall on the word 
''home," — the new idea. 

The word " before " being wholly superfluous 
to the thought, should receive no stress what- 
ever, and the period in thought will occt:r 
directly following the strongest emphatic v/ord. 
The word "been" includes "before," as you 
could not have "been" unless it was "before." 
Transpose the sentence, and it will be found 
that the inflection and emphasis is in no way 
changed. 

I'm nearer to-da^^ than ever 
I've been before to my home. 

Thus it v^ill be seen that where you make 
your emphatic pause you should make your 
decided inflection, irrespective of the grammat- 
ical pause. 



50 HOW TO READ, 

EXAMPLE II. 

"The affriglited air with a shudder bore, 
Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door, 
The terrible grumble and rumble and roar." 

The tendency is to pause at the word **bore 
because ther^ is a comma there : a pause, how- 
ever sHght, would utterly destroy the sense. 
Who ever heard of a shudder bore ? The words 
'Svith a shudder" are parenthetical; also the 
entire line which follows. The words ''grumble, 
rumble and roar" are the object of bore; hence, 
in thought, these words should be connected as 
closely as possible. 

The words ''with a shudder," and "like a 
herald in haste to the chieftain's door," are ad- 
verbial phrases. They should be placed on a 
different voice level than the words "bore," and 
"grumble and rumble and roar." 

We will diagram it as it should be read :— 

"The affrighted air — bore — the terrible," etc., 
( ' ' with a shudder " ) ( " like a herald, ' ' etc. ) 

EXAMPLE III. 

" And louder yet into Winchester rolled 
The roar of that red sea uncontrolled." 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 51 

Again we have a parenthetical phrase — "into 
Winchester." There is a comma at uncon- 
trolled, yet it is right at this point where the 
period of thought occurs. The word "uncon- 
trolled" should have full force on the three s\'lla- 
ables, accumulative to the last, and an intense 
falling inflection on the last, as this word is the 
very key-note of the poem. There was a battle 
raging, and as the master was a^Aray, it was 
uncontrolled, and this is the thought that 
should be iiMpressed by proper e.vpression. 

EXAMPLE IV. 

" As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray, 
And Sheridan, twenty miles away." 

Although there is a period after the last word 
"away," and that word is the last one of a 
stanza, it should not have a falling inflection. 
The second a should be prolonged, and the voice 
suspended— not rise. No stanza should end 
with a falling inflection till the one next to the 
last. So long as there is continuous action ex- 
pressed, so long should the inflection be suspen- 
sive. The reciter should not allow the horse to 
stop from the time he leaves Winchester till — 



52 HOW TO READ, 

"By the flash of his eye and his red nostrils plaj% 
He seemed, to the whole great army to say — 
I have brought 3'ou Sheridan, all the way 
From Winchester down to save the day." 

It was in consequence of this method of ren- 
dering the poem that we received from Gen'l 
Sheridan this high compHment : — "This was the 
first time I was ever affected by this poem. 

Why I was on the old black charger 

again, and he never stopped till he got there.'' 



POETRY. 

The most essential principle to be considered 
in the reading of poetry is 

Poises vs. Pauses. 

Rule.— In the reading of poetry, as of prose, 
pause only where the sense demands it. Instead 
of pausing- at the end of a line, only make a 
delicate poise, which is caused by slightly svv' ell- 
ing the word, making a pivot of it, on which 
you turn to the next line. This will enable you 
to preserve ' the rhythm without destroying 
the sense. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 53 

EXAMPLE I. ("An Order for a Picture.") 

" Alway and alway, night and morn, 
Woods upon woods, with fields of corn 
Lying between them — not quite sere. 
And not in the full, thick, leafy bloom, 
When the wind can hardly find breathing room 
Under its tassels." 

There should be no pause, but a poise on the 
words ' 'corn and room . ' ' By this mode of reading 
we will not mar the beauty nor the smoothness. 

In the reading of the beautiful hymn, '' I love 
to tell the story," the following lines should be 
read without a pause, but ^th one continuous 
stream of voice, modulated in accordance with 
the thought. 

EXAMPLE II. 
" More wonderful it seems 
Than all the golden fancies 
Of all our golden dreams." 

In order to impress the reading of poetry 
according to the sense, instead of pausing at the 
end of every line, Ave cite the following * 
EXAMPLE m. 
3. " Every lad\^ in the land 

Has twenty nails upon each hand 
Five and twenty on hands and feet. 
This is true, and no deceit." 



54 HOW TO READ, 

Pause at the end of the second line, and the 
statement is not true. Poise at the end of first 
and second Hues and pause where the marks are 
drawn in the following repetition, and then the 
statement is true. 

" Every lady in the land 
Has twenty nails | upon each hand 
Five I and twenty on hands and feet 
This is true, and no deceit." 

''Whatever difficulties we may find in reading 
prose, they are greatly increased when the com- 
position is in verse, and more particularly if the 
verse be rhyme. The regularity of the feet, and 
the sameness of sound in rhyming verse, strongly 
solicits the voice to a sameness of tone; and 
tone, unless directed by a judicious ear, is apt to 
degenerate into a song, and a song, of all others, 
is the most disgusting to a person of just taste. 

"If, therefore, there are few who read prose 
with propriety, there are still fe^wer who succeed 
inverse ; they either want that equable and har- 
monious flow of sound which distinguishes it 
from loose, unmeasured composition, or they 
have not a sufficient delicacy of ear to keep the 
harmonious smoothness of verse from sliding 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 55 

into a whining chant ; nay, so agreeable is this 
chant to many readers, that a single and natural 
delivery of verse seems tame and insipid, and 
much too familiar with the dignity of the 
language. 

''So pernicious are bad habits in every exer- 
cise of the faculties, that they not only lead us 
to false objects of beauty and propriety, but at 
last deprive us of the very power of perceiving 
the mistake. 

''For those, therefore, v\rhose ears are not 
just, and are totally deficient in a true taste for 
the music of poetry, the best method of avoiding 
this impropriety is to read verse exactly as if it 
were prose ; for though this may be said to be 
an error, it is certainly an error on the safer 
side. To say, however, as some do, that the 
pronunciation of verse is entirely destitute of 
song, and that it is no more than a just pro- 
nunciation of prose, is as distant from truth, as 
the whining chant we have been speaking of, is 
from poetic harmony. 

"Poetry without song is a body ^^thout a 
soul. The tune of this song is, indeed, difficult 
to hit ; but when once it is hit, it is sure to give 
the most exquisite pleasure. It excites in the 



56 HOW TO READ, 

hearer the most eager desire of imitation, and if 
this desire be not accompanied by a just taste or 
good instruction, it generally substitutes the 
turn ti, turn ti, as it is called, for simple, elegant, 
poetic harmony. 

"It must, however, be confessed, that elegant 
readers of verse often verge so nearly on v^hat 
is called sing- song, v^ithout falling into it, that 
it is no wonder that those who attempt to 
imitate them, slide into that blemish which 
borders so nearly on beauty. The truth is, the 
pronunciation of verse is a species of reading 
very distinct from the pronunciation of prose ; 
both of them have nature for their basis ; but 
one is common, familiar and practical nature; 
the other beautiful, elevated and ideal nature ; 
the latter as different from the former as the 
elegant step of a minuet is from the common 
motions in walking 

"Accordingly, we find, there are many who 
can read prose well, who are entirely at a loss for 
the pronunciation of verse; for these then we 
will endeavor to lay out a fev^ rules, v^hich may 
serve to facilitate the acquiring of so desirable 
an accomplishment. 

" The sense of an author ought always to be 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 57 

enforced to the utmost, let the harmony be what 
it will. Reading should be a compromise 
between sense and sound. Obscurity is the 
greatest possible defect in reading, and no har- 
mony will make amends for it. But if the sense 
of a passage be sufficiently clear, it seems no in. 
fringement on the rights of the understanding to 
give this sufficiently clear sense or harmonious 
utterance. 

" In pausing, ever let this rule take place : 
Never to separate words in any case 
That are less separable than those you join: 
And, which imports the same, not to combine 
Such words together, as do not relate 
So closely as the words you separate." 

Though many, many years have rolled by 
since these words ^were written in '^ Walker's 
Elements of Elocution" they are no less true 
now^ than then (1811). In the same valuable 
little treatise we find a few words quoted from 
the noted Sheridan. 

''If the author has so united the preceding 
and following lines in verse as to make them 
real prose, why is a reader to do that which the 



58 HOW TO READ, 

author has neglected to do : and indeed seems 
to have forbidden b^^ the nature of the com- 
position?" 



THE IvINKS OF R CHJIIK. 
In the reading of prose or poetry, so long as 
the sense does not require a pause, let the words 
or syllables represent the links of a chain. 

RuivE. — Keep the chain unbroken unless the 
breaking thereof is demanded by the sense, or, 
will add impresslveness to the thought. The 
emphatic word represents the large link. The 
whole movement should be gliding and graceful, 
the words being poured, as it were, in a contin- 
uous stream. There should, however, be modu- 
lation in the tones, for at times w^e v^ant the 
clear ripple of the mountain brook, and again as 
' ' rolls the Oregon . " 

EXAMPLE I. (Very Light). 
" Alway in the old romances that dear Archie read to me." 

EXAMPLE 11. (Very Full and Sustained). 
"Hear me, ye walls that echo'd to the tread of either 
Brutus." 

The foregoing examples offer a fine contrast 
in the tones of the voice ; the former is sweet, 



RECITE AXD IMPERSONATE. 59 

pure, bright and flexible, representing the Hnks 
of a silver chain ; while the latter is firm, strong, 
enduring and unyielding, characterized b^^ a 
steadiness representing a hea^w, iron chain. 
Both are in compliance with the rule, though 
the latter is an example of sustained force. 



FLEXIBILITY. 
To aid one in accomplishing this object we 
offer three very valuable suggestions, w^orking, 
as they do, conjointly. 

Rule.— Aim all the tone forward. 
Keep the lips moving. 
Cause the words to blend. 

There is too much reading and speaking back 
in the throat, scarcely opening the mouth, 
having too little movement of the lower jaw. 
This causes the throat to contract and become 
tired, causing hoarseness and weariness, where- 
as, if the effort were brought to the lips, the 
throat w^ould soon expand in proportion to the 
volume of voice required. 

To obviate this difficulty we would suggest 
that a few moments of exercises be given daily 



60 HOW TO READ, 

to mechanical reading ; /. e., tising the lips freely 
in the utterance of every element ; using them to 
exaggeration^ as if to make every element dis- 
tinctly heard at a distant point. Do not speak 
the words loudly, but distinctly and pleasantly. 
This exaggerated movement ^11 not lead to 
mouthing; but, day by day it v^ill assert itself 
and bring about the desired results v^ithout 
making apparent the mechanism that was 
essential in accomplishing the object. 

Place every \^ord where you can bite it, and 
the tone v^^here you can taste it. 



HESITANCY— flS RN HRT. 
There is an art in hesitancy, if it is made at the 
right time and in the right manner. But, bear 
in mind it is a hesitancy of art, not of nature. 

Rule. — Hesitatein the giving of special epochs 
in history ; also in little incidents thrown in by 
the author, which same should be so deftly 
handled by the narrator as to cause an audience 
to think them impromptu. 

EXAMPLE I. 

"Listen, my children, and j'Ott shall hear 
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, 
On the eighteenth of April in seventy-five" 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 61 

Hesitate slightly after the word "on" — 
dwelling on the sound of 22 — as though trying to 
recall the day of the month. Hesitate again 
after the word *' April," in the effort to recall 
the year. In like manner prolong the n in the 
word " in " just before the word "seventy-five." 

In this way it will destroy the usual tendency 
(in such selections) to declaim the thoughts, or 
simply calling the \vords without giving them 
any expression. 

Selections of this character — in fact, all selec- 
tions — should be read, not as though thej^ were 
committed, but as if the thoughts Avere born at 
the moment of giving them utterance. 

EXAMPLE II. ("The Emigrant's Story.") 

— Tro wbridge . 

"After making our beds — that is, just spreading our 

blankets 
On the dr}^ ground — w^e stood, the mother and T, for a 

long while, 
Hand in hand, that night, and looked at our six little 

shavers. 
All asleep in their nests, either in or under the w^agon — " 

A slight hesitancy after the words "that is," 
will add much to the naturalness of the expres- 



62 HOW TO READ, 

sion. From the same selection we have another 
illustration. 

EXAMPLE in. 

"Just then I 
sa^w something white gleam, 
Rushed for it, tore through the brush : and there, Sir, if 

you'll believe me. 
In a rough pen of trees, slung about in the carelessest 

fashion. 
Safe in the midst of 'em, only the tongue smashed up and 

the canvas 
Damaged a trifle — Excuse me, I never could get through 

the story. 
Just along here, w^ithout being a little mite w^omanish! — " 

Hesitancy should precede and succeed the 
words "excuse me;" also precede the word 
"womanish." 

The audience should be actually puzzled as to 
whether the words following the word "trifle" 
were those of the author or of the narrator. 



SUSPENSION. 
Rule. — When the mind of an audience can be 
held in suspense, either by the voice or by the 
manner — if appropriately applied — it will be 
found to have great and desirable effect. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 33 

EXAMPLE I. ( ''Ride of Jennie McNeal.") 

— Carleton. 

" One night when the sun had crept to bed, 
And rain clouds lingered overhead, 
And sent their surly drops as proof 
To drum a tune on the cottage roof, 
Close after a knock at the outer door. 
There entered a dozen dragoons, or more." 

A certain secrec^^ and fear should permeate 
this entire stanza, until the curiosity of the au- 
dience has reached the highest point of the cli- 
max, then halt after the ^vord ''entered," thus 
bringing about the desired effect by the aid of 
the suspense. 



NEGHTIYES. 

There is a verv^ prevalent fault among readers 
and speakers ; i. e. to emphasize all negatives — 
no, none, not, never, etc. 

Negative sentences are the same as affirma- 
tive ones so far as emphasis is concerned. 

Rule . — A void emphasizing a nega five element 
unless it is intended as a direct negation, ex- 
pressed or implied ; or is reiterated with a 
special view to emphasis. 



64 HOW TO READ, 

EXAMPLE I. 

" Lead us not into temptation." 

By placing the emphasis on the word ''not," 
implies that He intended to lead us into 
temptation. 

EXAMPLE II. 

— "While overhead, with wild increase, 
Forgetting its ancient toll of peace, 
The great bell swung as ne'er before — 
It seemed as it would never cease;" 

The emphatic word in the last line is "cease :" 
the word "never " is not a direct negation. 

EXAMPLE III. 

" I never would lay down my arms — never, never, 
NEVER!" 

In this case the negative element — the word 
"never" — is reiterated for special force, and 
should receive emphasis with each utterance. 



liVLMEDrnTELY CONNECTED EiVLPHJlTIC 

WORDS. 

Rule. — Two immediately connected emphatic 

words or thoughts should not be given on the 

same voice level, or pitch. If there are three or 



RECITE AND IM PERSONATE. 65 

more, the third may be placed on the same level 
•with the first, but under no circumstances should 
it be on the same level as the preceding one. 

EXAMPLE I. 

^^ Never, never, never.^' 

EXAMPLE 11. 

" To arms, to arms, to arms,'' they cr3\ 

EXAMPLE IIL 

" Arm ! Arm ! it is — it is — the cannon's opening roar." 



LITERflLNESS, 

Rule. — Avoid calling such special attention 
to words as will cause the mind to be centered 
on purely 7itera7 translation. 

Bear in mind that it is only the mental tone 
or radical stress that deals with the details. 

EXAMPLE I. 

"So they fell on their hast\' supper \vith zeal." 

By placing any stress upon the word "fell," 
would be to invite special attention to the fall- 
ing and make it appear that they literallyitW on 
their supper. The emphatic word is "zeal." 



66 ' HOW TO READ, 

EXAMPLE 11. 

" A Ijrave woman strained her eyes." 

Avoid the radical stress on the word 
"strained," lest you destroy the beauty of the 
picture. As this brave woman stood on the 
coast of Wales watching a storm-tossed vessel, 
there was no literal straining of the eyes. 

EXAMPLE III. 

" Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again." 

To give this word ' ' soft ' ' in the radical stress 
and thereby in vite special attention to the word, 
would be to speak of the eyes as if they were 
soft to the touch — putty eyes. The w^hole line 
is expressed by the moral tone and median 
stress. 

This tendency of literalness also manifests 
itself in dealing w^ith number. 

EXAMPLE IV. 

"A thousand hearts heat happily." 

Not just a thousand, but a great many. 

EXAMPLE V. 

** A hundred hands flung u]3 reply, 
A hundred voices answered 'I.' " 



RECITE AXD IMPERSONATE. 67 

There may have been more or less than a 
hundred. It is the general thought that should 
be expressed. Nor did the hands literally £ing 
tip reply ; nor should the reader try to express a 
hundred or more voices when giving expression 
to their answer "I." It is the spirit , not the 
reality, that is required. 

EXAMPLE VI. 

" Hurrah, hurrah for Sheridan! 

. Hurrah, hurrah for horse and man ! " 

How often we hear the vrords ''hurrah, 
hurrah '^ given as though they were shouted by 
a myriad of voices. When "he dashed down 
the line mid a storm of huzzahs " is the time the 
actual hurrahing took place, but the ''hurrah" 
given in the last stanza is an after consideration, 
and entirely out of the strong spirited scene in 
Avhich the narrator has been a participator. 
These are the grand results, and should in no 
way borrow of the declamatory and heroic 
narration, but should be expressed as the soul- 
felt feeling of the author. If you insist upon 
shouting "hurrah, "shout the whole star." '^, :■ irl 
thus be consistent. 



68 now TO READ, 

READING, RECITmG AND IMPERSON- 

RrmG. 

A very great distinction should be made in 
reference to these three forms of rendering a 
selection. 

How few readers read. The majority recite. 
To be a good reader is a very great accomplish- 
ment, and it is of more practical benefit than 
reciting. 

There are many selections which are much 
more effective as a reading than as a recitation. 
In our rule for each style of rendering will be 
found, we think, all the thought necessary to the 
distinguishing of the three forms, and sufficient 
instruction for the rendering of the same. We 
desire, however, to say a v^ord in reference to 
the reading versus reciting in our public schools. 
It should be made a pleasant and profitable 
exercise of the day. ''Words fitly spoken are 
like apples of gold in pictures of silver." It is 
not merely for the sake of correct pronunciation, 
correct emphasis, inflections, etc., but, added to 
these, the soul of the reader should commune 
with the soul of the author ; hence this class of 
reading should not be soulless, — as so much 
of it is. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 69 

Just a word in reference to "Poet's Day" 
and ''Commencement" — especially the former. 
Why recite everything ? Some of the real gems 
of our poets are completely obscured by the 
reciter, whereas, were they read, they would 
shine forth in all their beauty; but it is too 
often the case that the3^ are hidden or their 
beauty marred by the awkwardness of the one 
who stands up to "speak his little piece," — 
awkward when standing still,, more awkward 
when moving about. Ah, but your pupils make 
pretty gestures and strike beautiful attitudes? 
These may be appropriately given for recita- 
tions, but not for readings. Readings require 
no gestures. Then for " Poet's Day " or " Com- 
-^mencement," we would suggest an occasional 
reading to relieve the monotony — and the 
audience. 

Think of the relief to the teacher in preparing 
the selection for the pupil, in preparing the pupil 
for the selection, and preparing both for the 
audience. 

The gems ^11 be the brighter by the contrast 
with the recitations, — to say nothing of time 
saved, labor saved, patience saved to the 
alreadv worn out teacher. 



70 HOW TO READ, 

READINGS. 
Rule. — Readings are selections of didactic 
nature, requiring no gestures. The book from 
which the reading is given, should be held easily 
and gracefully in the hand or shonld lie upon the 
stand or reading desk. 

EXAMPLES. 
" Poor Little Jim." 

— Edward Farmer. 
"Sandalphon." 

— H. W. Long-fellow. 
"An Order for a Picture." 

— Alice Cary. 

These and all selections of a similar nature 
will be brought more vividly to the mind of the 
audience when the reader does naught to at- 
tract to himself, and thereby c/etract from the 
thought. 

By observing this caution and following the 
rule for readings, the recitations will be the 
more effective by the contrast. 



RECITi=[TIONS, 
Rule. — Recitations require gestures and atti- 
tudes in proportion to the nature of the same ; 
if heroic, they should be vigorous. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 71 

EXAMPLES. 

"Sheridan's Ride." 

— T. Buchanan Read. 

"Barbara Freitchie." 

— /. G. Whittier. 

"The Polish Boy." 

— Ann S. Stephens. 

"Como." 

—Joaquin Miller. 

In the above list, "Sheridan's Ridel' is the 
most purely a recitation, — a descriptive, heroic 
recitation. 

''Barbara Freitchie" may be read; if read, 
no gestures should be made other than with 
the e^^es. 

"The Polish Bo}"," is a reading, recitation, 
and impersonation combined. 

It is properly classed under recitations, or 
impersonations; it would be ver\^ difficult to 
make it a reading, as the dramatic situations 
would not be so strong, yet there are portions 
of it that could be read with telling effect. 

"Como" may be read or recited, but more 
properly recited with the impersonations 
included. 



72 HOW TO READ, 

IMPERSONHTIONS, ' 

Rule. — Impersonations are purely dramatic y 
requiring gestures and attitudes. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Hamlet's Soliloquies. 

2. Macbeth's Soliloquies. 

3. Letter ^c^ne— Macbeth. 

4. Dagger Scene — Macbeth. 

5. Sleep-walking Scene. — Macbeth. 

6. Cassius' Speech on Honor. 

7. " One Day Solitary"— ;/. T. Trowbridge. 

8. ''The Old Major"— Bret Harte. 

9. " Tell's Address to the Alps." 

Gestures and attitudes should be very spar- 
ingly used and with the utmost discrimination 
in all soliloquies. (See Soliloquies.) 

Where a recitation and impersonation are 
combined, ^we should only suggest the imperson- 
ation, but, as in the nine examples under this 
heading, the impersonations should be complete; 
i. e., the impersonator should fully identify him- 
self with the character he is portraying. 

Whenever we say ''only suggest," we mean 
that if vou were at times a narrator, and at 



RECITE AXD IMPERSONATE. 73 

other times an impersonator as in "Barbara 
Freitchie" we wonld have you suggest the 
heorine and Stonewall Jackson. Nothing is 
more ludicrous than to hear a lad\^ tr^- to 
impersonate the voice of Stonewall Jackson, — 
unless it is to hear a gentleman try to im- 
-;ersonate the voice of Barbara Freitchie. In 
" The Polish Boy " the voice of the mother, the 
bo\% the ruffians, should only be suggested. 



IMPERSONHTIOK vs, NHRRflTION. 

A prevalent fault exists, not only in the 
school-room, but upon the platform, in which 
the reader gets the impersonator and the narra- 
tor confounded. There are very few professional 
readers who are exempt from this fault : then it 
is not strange that we find it in the school- 
room. 

Rule. — In all reading, not excepting Bible 
reading, composed of narration and impersona- 
tion, the narrator should not impersonate nor 
even suggest the impersonation when speaking 
of the character, but only when speaking as the 
character. 



HOW TO READ, 



EXAMPLE I. 



" She leaned far out on the window sill 
And shook it forth with a royal will. 
* Shoot if you must, this old gray head, 
But spare your country's flag,' she said." 

Give the first two lines with all the spirit and 
animation required for such a heroic selection, 
but reserve the action (leaning from the ^ndow 
and shaking the flag) until you have begun 
voicing the quotation; /. e., when she speaks; 
then " suit the action to the word." 

EXAMPLE II. 

"And he folded his anns as he stood there alone, 
As calm, and as cold, as a statue of stone." 



Do not fold the arms when reading these 
lines ; wait till Shamus O'Brien speaks. 



EXAMPLE III. 

" With folded arms and clouded brow, 
He mutters forth his grievance now." 

Do notfold the arms nor cloud the browuntil 
you, as the character, begin muttering forth his 
grievance. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 75 



EXAMPLE IV. 



Then Agrippa said unto Paul: "Thou art permitted to 
speak for thyself." Then Paul stretched forth his hand and 
answered for himself: " I think myself happy, King Agrippa, 
because I shall answer for myself this day before thee," etc. 

A variety should be given to Scripture read- 
ing, as to all other kinds of reading, i. e., the 
voice and manner should be consistent with the 
thought. In the example just cited, the reader 
should bring this court scene before the people, 
simply by the tones of voice, not by dramatic 
situations, gestures or attitudes. He should 
suggest the king and Paul, making a distinction 
in the voice and general bearing of each, and 
both of these representations should differ from 
the conversational reading tone of the narrator. 

EXAMPLE V. 
Half a league — half a league, 
Half a league onward, 
All in the valley of death 
Rode the six hundred. 
"Forward the Light Brigade! 
Charge for the guns ! " he said. 

''The words ''Half a league" are spoken by 
the narrator, not the commander, hence should 



76 HOW TO READ, 

not be given as a command, but in aspiration; 
the narrator is looking upon the scene after 
the battle. It is given in the past tense; the 
narrator does not say rides the six hundred, but 
rode the six hundred. The foregoing examples 
suffice to show that much ca're must be exercised 
in the distinctive portrayal of character. 



QUOTATIONS. 

Rule. — In all selections combining narration 
and impersonation, the narrator should make a 
distinct pause previous to and immediately fol- 
lowing th.^ quotations. 

Examples may be found by referring to num- 
bers 1, 4- and 5, just cited. 

This pausing, to which we refer, gives ample 
time to the narrator and audience to get into 
the atmosphere of the impersonation. 

The words ''she said'^ and ''he said" (exam- 
ples 1 and 5) should be so subordinated to the 
quotations, and still so separated from them, 
that they v^ould drop into utter silence, were 
they not necessary to the rhythmical order and 
poetic measure. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 77 

A writer of poetry has poetic license ; a reader 
of poetry has a reader's hcense. It is often that 
the reader makes the iDoem ; it is often that the 
reciter mars it. Longfellow has said ** Of equal 
honor ^vith him who Avrites a grand poem, is he 
who reads it grandly." 

If you ^vere reading from Poe's "Raven" 
'' Wretch," I cried "thy God hath sent thee"— 
You have a license to substitute the words ''Ah 
wretch^'' in place of "I cried." The words "I 
cried" if repeated aloud, would take 3-011 and 
3^our audience, for the moment, out of the 
atmosphere that surrounds the impersonator. 
He is addressing himself, not the raven; hence 
the words ' ' ah wretch ' ' are in keeping with the 
character, and may be given as part of the quo- 
tation without interfering with the metrical 
accent or the euphony. 



SOLILOQUIES. 
A soliloquy is the musing of the heart, but it 
is spoken aloud as a dramatic necessit3^ 

Rule. — Solilquize in a manner to be heard, but 
not as if intending to be heard. The tone of 
voice depends upon the relation of theimpersc-- 



78 ^ HOW TO READ, 

a ted, to the scenes and circtimstances that were 
at the time surrounding him. Gestures should 
be sparingly used, and with the utmost dis- 
crimination. 

The eye should never rest upon the audience ; 
yet as a rule should be kept in such a position as 
to be seen by them ; for the eye is the pivot of 
all expression. 

EXAMPLE I. 

Hamlet's soliloquy "To be or not to be," is not char- 
acterized by that secrecy and general feeling ^Yllich pervades 
Alacbeth's soliloqu}^: " If it were done." The former is in 
contemplation of se7/^destruction ; the latter contemplates 
the destruction of another. 

The famous dagger scene of Macbeth takes 
on a still different tone from either of the pre- 
ceding ones, as the increase of fear, added to 
mental conflict, causes greater aspiration of the 
voice. 

The beautiful soliloquy, ''Rock me to sleep, 
mother,'' furnishes us an illustration of a more 
quiet and meditative stjde, and requires a tone 
especially suited to the "sick soul and the world's 
weary brain." We have, also, as an illustration, 



k::cite and impersonate. 79 

the grand and impressive poem from the pen of 
Mr. J. T. Trowbridge: 

'' One Day Solitary:' 

This is the soliloquy of a 3'oungmanin prison. 
He goes to his cell apparenth' unconcerned as he 
talks to the jailer, but his soliloquy is unlike 
almost any other in the language. There are 
mental and moral and vital conflicts, v^hich 
bring in play a great varietj^ of tones. His eye, 
like his mind, ^vanders ever and anon to the far- 
away scenes of his home and his childhood, and 
thereby causes the introspective aspect of the eye. 



THE EYE, 



The action of the eye is not only essential as 
regards a soliloquy, but it forms an important 
part in general reading. 

We will place this subject in three divisions, 
following each with the respective suggestions. 

Eye educated. 

Eye to the audience. 

Eye vs. ear. 



80 HOW TO READ, 

Eye Educated. 

The eye should be so educated in reading, 
that it will go ahead of the words to be 
expressed, in order to anticipate the thought 
with its corresponding emphasis and inflection. 

Reading may he likened to going up or down 
stairs. 

You will be sure to stumble, or at least to 
halt, if 3"OU place your eye upon the step at the 
same time you place your foot there. You 
should not have your eye upon the vv^ord you 
are uttering, but train it to look ahead. 

Suggestion. — Open a book and close it quickly, 
and see how much the eye can catch at a glance. 
Daniel Webster used to discipline the mind and 
the eye at the same time, by placing a book on 
a large table, and, walking around it, he Avould 
pass the book, v\^ithout stopping, and ''takein," 
by a single glance, enough thought to repeat till 
he again reached the book ; and, continuing his 
walk, he would continue his talk uninterrupt- 
edly. 



Eye to Audience. 
By following the previous suggestion, you 
v^ill be enabled to glance up from the book 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 81 

or M. S., and thereby produce a much greater 
effect upon your hearers. You can so train the 
eye that, in opening a book to a selection with 
which you are wholly unfamiliar, you will be 
able to look steadily at the audience during the 
delivery of, at least, one-half the thought. Sup- 
pose you, as a hearer, are unfortunate enough 
to sit where a stove-pipe, or pillar, or a tall per- 
son, obstructs your view of the speaker, why do 
you move your head to see the speaker ? You 
can hear him, and you can discern by his tone 
of voice if he is in earnest. You watch him 
a^while, but if he does not lift the eye and occa- 
sionally look steadily at the audience, you will 
soon lose your interest, and the aforesaid ob- 
struction is no longer objectionable. 

The youngest child in school, by the applica- 
tion of this suggestion: i.'e., looking up from the 
book, will change the ordinary monotonous,, 
meaningless, stereotyped, school-room reading- 
tone, into a pleasant conversational one. We 
speak of the benefits of this suggestion after 
' years of observation and continuous practical 
application. This tendency to read down in the 
hook, has a tendency to make one read and 
speak down in the throat. 



82 HOW TO READ, 

Suggestion. — Imagine you are standing before 
a scliool, or an audience, with a box of presents 
to be given to them individually. You naturally 
look into the box for the presents, but you do 
not think of handing them out ^th downcast 
eyes. You will, instead, if you have any heart 
in the matter, not only look at the person to 
whom you hand the present, but your counte- 
nance v^ill change as you hand out each article. 
Your book or M. S., is the box, your thoughts 
are the presents. Inasmuch as your eye reaches 
down to obtain the thought, it should look up 
and at the person addressed ; as the hand is the 
agent that conveys the tangible object, the voice 
is the vehicle of the thought, and your expres- 
sion should vary with the varied thoughts. 



Bye vs. Bar. 
The eye and ear bear a close relation to 
each other. The eye should not follow in the 
direction of the object to which you are listening. 
It will not only make indistinct the picture 
which you wish to present, but will change the 
color as you change the tone of voice. Coloring 
in reading may be described as the different 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. g3 

phases of emotipnal expression in the voice. 
Yon should nse an artist's precision inthela^ang 
on of tints, and in the grouping of objects. 
When 3^ou are hstening, the attitude of the body 
has a corresponding mental attitude, and the 
voice will be louver and more in SA^mpathy with 
the subject. 

EXAMPLE. (" The Face against the Pane.") 

" The heavens are veined v^>ath fire! 
And the thunder, how it rolls! " 

The prevailing tendency is to cause these 
thoughts to be expressed on the same level, 
thereby making no difference between the seeing 
and the hearing. The public reader generally 
looks in the direction of the thunder, as he 
does in the direction of the lightning. In so 
doing he is hearing \vith his eyes. Turn the eye 
and head from the sound, as if j^ou were listening 
to it instead of seeing it; and, without any 
effort on j-our part, your voice will naturally 
drop to a lower ke\^, and be more in sympathy 
with the subject. Things unseen should not be 
expressed with so clear a voice as things seen. 



84 HOW TO READ, 

DIMNESS OF SIGHT.' 
Rule. — Dimness of sight requires a corres- 
ponding dimness of voice. In cases of doubt, 
secrecy, fear, moral impurity, darkness, death, 
etc., the tone of voice, while wholly governed 
by succeeding and preceding thoughts, should 
generally be lacldng in the purer qualities, drop- 
ping more toward the lower and aspirated 
tones. 

EXAMPLE. 

" One night, when the sun had ercpt to bed, 
And rain clouds lingered overhead, 
And sent their surly drops as proof 
To drum a tune on the cottage roof, 
Close after a knock at the outer door, 
There entered a dozen dragoons, or more." 

The conflict of doubt, fear, secrecy, etc., 
should continue through the word "entered," 
then by use of a rhetorical pause, thus keeping 
the hearer in suspense, you w411 emerge from the 
tone of secrecy and doubt into a tone of posi- 
tiveness and clearness, and you will emphasize 
the word "dragoons" with an intense falling 
inflection. 

The period of thought immediately follows 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 85 

the word "dragoons." Transpose it and you 
have "There entered a dozen, or more dra- 
goons." 

PROdFECTIOR OF THE TONE. 

Rule. — Aim the tone at some distant point, 
and during each complete thought keep it there. 

It will be found that the high tones being 
more penetrating, require less push than the 
lower ones. 

Talk to those farthest from you, not sliout, 
and thus avoid making it unpleasant for those 
who are near you. 

You will find that it is the low notes that 
require the push. Bver}^ tone of voice should be 
directed against the hard palate, and allowed 
to reverberate or reflect to the pharynx, but 
should not begin in the pharj^nx. By observing 
this precaution, much of the hoarseness and 
weariness may be prevented, as the throat will 
expand instead of contract. Avoid sending only 
apart of the tones to a distance, and allowing 
the others to fall at your feet. This method of 
speaking or reading is what we term " dropping 
of the tone." It is a prevalent fault. 



86 HOW TO READ, 

DROPPING OF THE TONE. 

Rule. — Let there be direct waves of the voice; 
.avoid spattering. 

Your voice should flow as freely as an un- 
broken stream of water from a pitcher. When 
the stream of voice is jerky or broken, it is like 
the stream of water were you to pass your hand 
back and forth through it. 

Readers and speakers make it very tiresome 
for their auditors when the effort is such as to 
require the straining of the ear. Cause your 
hearers to be restful instead of restiess. 

You should deal with thoughts as you deal 
^th tangible objects. 

Suggestion. — A teacher or reader may see the 
full force of this by standing at the desk, or upon 
a platform, and say : *' There are some circulars 
that I ^vvould like you to take home with you." 
Instead of handing them to the individuals as 
they are seated before you, throw them. 

Some ^11 reach those who are sitting in the 
front rows ; the remainder will fall short of their 
destination. By your manner of distribution 
you have intimated that if they want them they 
can come and pick them up. So it is with your 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 87 

thoughts. Your voice should convey your 
thoughts to every one in the room, and in such 
an appropriate manner as to induce the hearers 
to accept them. The quality of your voice is 
just as essential as the quantity. 

The audience should not only be able to hear 
and understand, but by the quality of your 
voice, be induced to listen. 



Pitting the Garment. 



In all reading or reciting it is quite important 
that you make the garment a perfect fit. 

Rule. — Have your tone proportionate to the 
object to be described, and the sentiment to be 
expressed. Do not represent small, insignificant 
things with a full, deep tone, nor present grand 
objects or ideas with narrow tones. 

A large garment on a small person, or vice 
versa, would be no more liable to attract atten- 
tion and possibly ridicule, than would the use of 
a large tone to describe a small object, or a 
small tone to describe a large object. 



88 HOW TO READ, 



EXAMPLE. 



" Roll on, tlioti deep and dark blue ocean, roll! 
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain." 

The reader should have some idea of the 
grandeur of these objects, and should express 
the thoughts by a full orotund tone. 

He should not merely call the words and give 
utterance to them as though he were describing 
a duck pond filled v^ith the miniature boats of 
children. To bring this more vividly to the 
mind of the reader, whether in the school-room, 
or at the reading desk, we will give the following 

Illustration. 

Take a marble in your fingers and shoot it 
across the floor, exclaiming in a full, orotund 
tone, "Roll on, thou little marble, roll!" The 
inconsistency ^11 at once be apparent, yet it is 
no more so than describing or addressing a large 
object with a small tone. 

There is a class of elocutionists wrho always 
carry their sign with them ; they use the orotund 
tone on all occasions ; they are a peculiar but 
prevailing type — though, by no means, a 
prototype. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 89 

PERSONi=[L GRIEF. 
In the rendering of pathetic selections or 
pathetic scenes the tone of personal grief is a 
fault, and it will excite either pity or contempt 
for the speaker. It is the lachrymose tone. The 
voice in such cases, is too narrow, and draws 
the attention to the speaker rather than to the 
character he wishes to present. The speaker 
should be only the medium, and the tone should 
be broad enough to include all mankind who 
are in like sorrow or affliction. 

Rule. — Keep hack your tears though it may 
require a struggle; the tears should but tinge 
the tones of the voice and then the struggle to 
overcome your emotion will overcome your 
audience and oblige them to feel your sorrow. 
Your words will thus act as an avenue, or as 
an agent, for their grief as ^vvell as yours, and 
for this reaeon the tone should be broad. 



WORDS THAT ECHO THE SENSE. 
Rule. — Words which have a certain signifi- 
cance peculiar to themselves should receive due 
attention and an appropriate stress, in order to 
give them the correct expression. 



90 HOW TO READ, 

EXAMPLE I. 

Hard, soft, iron, gold, warm, cold, lovable, 
hateful, disgusting, enchanting, and words of a 
similar nature, come under this heading. 

EXAMPLE II. 

Beautiful, should be full of beauty. 
Pitiful, should be full of pity. 

EXAMPLE III. 

" If I should die to-night, 
My friends would look upon my quiet face 
Before they laid it in its resting place. 
And deem that death had left it almost fair ; 
And, laying snow-white flowers against my hair, 
Would smooth it down with tearful tenderness. 
And fold my hands with lingering caress. 
Poor hands, so empty and so cold to-night." 

In the rendering of the foregoing stanza, the 
median stress should be employed in the expres- 
sion of all emphatic words except ' ' empty ; ' ' the 
very character of this ^word does not admit of 
fullness, but expresses itself by its regretful 
emptiness. This stanza also furnishes a fine 
illustration of emphasis vs. stress, or force vs. 
quality. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 91 

EXPLflNHTORY SENTENCES. 

Much of our reading is marred by too little 
heed being given to explanatory sentences. 

It is not that they are slighted, but on the 
contrar}^, are made too prominent. 

Rule. — An explanatory sentence should take 
the same inflection as that which it explains. 
Avoid giving the same pitch. 

EXAMPLE. 

"The ocean old, 
Centuries old, 
Strong as youth, and as uncontrolled, 
Paces restless to and fro. 
Up and down the sands of gold." 

The second and third lines are explanatory, 
and should be taken out of the level of the first 
and fourth lines which belong on the same level. 
Although the second and third lines are both 
explanatory, they should not appear on the 
same level. 

The following diagram, will illustrate the 
relation of the lines to each other as regards the 
pitch of the voice. 

1. "The ocean old, 4. Paces restless to and fro, 
3. Strong as youth and as uncontrolled, 

2. Centuries old, 5. Up and down the sands of gold." 



92 now TO READ, 

Read as numbered, both as to the pitch of the 
voice and the numerical order; i. e., number 4, 
should be on the same voice level as number 1, 
and number 5 as number 3. 

The more emotional the thought, the lower 
becomes the pitch of the voice ; but as the mind 
is addressed as distinguished from the emotions, 
the most important parts should be higher in 
pitch. 

EXAMPLE. 

" An old clock that had stood for fifty years in a farmer's 
kitchen, early one summer's morning, without giving any 
warning, suddenly stopped." 

This stanza appeals more to the intellect than 
to theemotions. It should be read as numbered, 
and as to the voice levels. 

3. Early one summer's morning, 

1. An old clock 5. Suddenly stopped. 

2. That had stood for fifty years in a farmer's kitchen, 

[4. Without giving any warning, 

It v^ill be observed that the subject and pred- 
icate are on the same level ; hence they should be 
given with the same pitch. 

The tendency to give explanatory sentences 
too much prominence is still more clearly shown 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 93 

in prose readings. We have chosen poetical 
selections because they are more generally used 
in public reading, and the poems from which we 
quote are more or less familiar to the school- 
room readers. 

In Mark Twain's description of European 
Guides, Ave have a good illustration of explana- 
tory sentences. In scliool, this selection is 
wholl3^ read — no action taking place; that is 
right, as also the reading of the explanatory 
sentences, if appropriatel3^ done; /'. e., taken out 
of the level of the preceding and siicceeding 
thought. But the platform reader should 
wholly omit the explanatory sentences, because 
he should explain them by his actions. In all 
places where it speaks of the doctor or the guide 
doing thus and so, the reader should not speak 
of it and then do it, but should do it without 
speaking of it. 

The explanatory sentence acted by the reader 
should not ])e voiced b\' him ; but if voiced, as is 
sometimes the case in poetry, it should receive 
no action. 

Poe's "Raven" furnishes us a fine example 
of this. All the explanatory sentences are essen- 
tial to the rhythmical order, and to the com- 



94 HOW TO READ, 

pleteness of the picture. The reader should spea^ 
of these things, but should not do them. He is 
speaking of a time in the past when he was 
*' nodding, nearly napping." It is not now. 

'' Here I opened wide the door." He does not 
open it :now. '' Straight I wheeled a cushioned 
seat." He should not ^wheel it 220 w. These are 
all past tense, and are explanatory of what he 
did then. These ^11 all be much more impress- 
ive if the *' nodding" and the *' napping," the 
' ' walking ' ' and the ' ' wheeling ' ' are left to the 
vivid imagination of the audience. They will 
thus be drawn more to the spirit of the selection 
than to its mechanism ; they v^ill feel him as he 
suffers now, and see him as he suffered then. 



PilREKTHETICJlL SENTEKCES. 

Rule. — Parenthetical sentences, like explana- 
tory ones, are taken out of the level of the 
preceding thought, and are dealt with the same 
as the explanatory sentences ^th the exception 
that, inasmuch as they do not explain, they can 
be entirely dropped without detracting from the 
thought. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 95 

EXAMPLE. 

In the "wigwam with Nokomis 

With those gloomy guests that watched her, 

With the famine and the fever, 

She was lying, the beloved. 

She the dying Minnehaha. 

" Hark ! " she said, "I hear a rushing, 

Hear a roaring and a rushing, 

Hear the Falls of Minnehaha. 

Calling to me from the distance." 

"No, my child ! " said old Nokomis, 

" 'Tis the night wind in the pine-trees ! " 

"Look! " she said, "I see my father 

Standing lonely at his door way, 

Beckoning to me from his wigwam 

In the land of the Dacotahs ! " 

"No, my child ! " said old Nokomis, 

" 'Tis the smoke that waves and beckons." 

The parenthetical sentences, ''she said" and 
''said old Nokomis " are entirely unnecessary to 
the rendition of the thought. Nokomis and 
Minnehaha have both been mentioned as being 
in the tent. It does not require an expert to be 
able to distingush between the voice of a dying 
young woman and a heathful grandmother. It 
maybe argued that these parenthetical sentences 
are essential to the poetic measure. It is so in 
many cases, but not in this, as the pause will be 



96 HOW TO READ, 

more effective, and less likely to break in upon 
the scene and destroy the spirit of the selection, 
than if utterance were given to that which does 
not add to the effect nor to the clearness of the 
thought. In a conversation with Mr. Long- 
fellow concerning this poem, he said to us. ''I 
cannot say what form of writing to call ' The 
Famine : ' it is not exactly blank verse, and I 
question whether it is really poetry. It has a 
peculiarity all its own. The omissions you 
make are perfectly admissible, and they do not, 
in the least, detract from the thought, but on 
the contrary, preserve the continuity." 



SHCRIFICmG NATURE. 

Rule. — Sacri£cing nature for the sake of the 
effect produced on an audience is both wrong 
and inartistic. 

EXAMPLE I. 

And the only word there spoken, 
Was the whispered word, " Lenore ! " 
This I whispered, and an echo 
Murmured back the word, " Lenore !" 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 97 

Did you ever hear an echo to a whisper ? We 
never did, save by an elocutionist — ^th whom 
all things are possible. 

The effect may be very pleasant to an audi- 
ence to hear the ^word '' Lenore " ^whispered, and 
then hear an echo given to the whispered word — 
if it were possible, — but we can assure you it is 
not natural. 

The v^ord ''whispered" should not be taken 
in its literal sense, and even if it were, it should be 
narrated. You are merely telling of something 
that has occurred, not something that is 
occurring. 

EXAMPLE n. 

*• "And the wind 

About the eaves of the cottage 
Sobs and grieves." 

It is neither necessary nor natural that the 
reader should so far impersonate the wind as to 
do the sobbing and grieving, however pleasant 
(?) it may he to an audience. We are aware 
that such selections take — take wind ; but windy 
readers and reciters are not artists. 



98 HOW TO READ, 

UlNFFilMILmR WORDS OR TERMS. 

Rule. — In speaking an unfamiliar name, 
word or term make sufficient pause before and 
pause after the thought, to give your hearers 
time to comprehend the same. 

When one is obHged to make an effort to 
catch a word or phrase that was lost in conse- 
quence of the reader violating the foregoing 
rule, the succeeding thought will also be lost; 
hence the interest slackens. 

EXAMPLE. 

'* For lo ! along the river's bed 
A mighty eygre reared its crest." 

The word '' eygre" (a-gur) should come 
under this rule. 

Ministers should guard against this fault in 
reading the Biblical names of persons, rivers, 
cities, etc., with which the congregation may 
not be wholly conversant. 



CONJUNCTIONS. 
Rule.— All conjunctions (and, but, etc.,) 
should be passed over lightly unless they are in- 
tended as aids to a rhetorical pause, or to be 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 99 

emphasized in consequence of contrast. They 
are not always unimportant, hence require very 
judicious handling. 

EXAMPLE. 

" One Day Solitary." 

—J. T. Trowbridge. 
" Here I am at the end of m^^ journe\'. 
And — well, it ain't jolly, not so Yer\^! — 
I'd like to throttle that sharp attorney." 

EXAMPLE II. 

" The Emigrant's Stor^^" 

— /. r. Trowbridge. 

" Then the wind took us, and — 
Well, the next minute I found myself," etc. 

EXAMPLE III. 

"Just as I am! without one plea 
(1st plea) But that thy blood was shed for me, 
(2d plea) And that thou bidst me come to thee." 

' ' Without one plea ' ' — except the t^yo given : 
hence "one" is not intended to be taken literally, 
but the same as if written " without any plea," 
etc. 

The word ''and" should be emphasized and 
followed by a rhetorical pause. 



100 HOW TO READ, 

EXAMPLE IV. 

I said you or he, not you and he. 



THE ARTICLE R. 

Do not obscure the article A nor do not speak 
it so clearly as to invite special attention to it. 

Rule. — Speak the ''a" as you would in 
hastily repeating the alphabet. 

The ' ^ a, " when emphaized , should have its long 
sound ; i. e. its name sound. In all other cases it 
should be the long sound of ' ^ a " slightly touched. 
It should never drop to the sound of u. This is 
slovenly. The article should always be pro- 
nounced with the noun as though it were apart 
of it; i. e., a boy, should be pronounced the same 
as the vrords above, about, amid, again, etc., 
when they are Correctly given. 

One would not think of saying ubeceda'rian 
for abeceda'rian, yet \^e seldom hear any thing 
but umer'ucunfor amer'ican, — the long '' a " and 
the short ''a" obscure; i. e., slightly touched. 



THE ARTICLE THE. 
Rule. — T-h-e is pronounced the. 
Teach a child that t-h-e is pronounced the, 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 101 

but that he must not put any more force upon 
it than upon any other unaccented word. The 
result will be that when the article immediately 
precedes a vowel, he ^11 give the'' e" the sound of 
long " e " slightly touched , and if the " e " immedi- 
ately precedes a consonant, the vocal organs wnll 
readily adjust themselves unconsciously to the 
child for the sound of the next position belo^w 
long " e" ; f. e., i (thi). But once teach the child 
that t-h-e is sometimes thu, and our word for it, 
it will be thvL very last time you will hear the or 
thi. 

VOWEL EXAMPLES. 

(The). The army. The evil. The idea. The ocean. The 
union. The actor. The enemy. The Indian. The oddest. 
The upper. 

CONSONANT EXAMPLES. 

(Thi). The bad. The cold. The dot. The flow. The 
good. The high. The jar. The lad. The May. The night. 
The pay. The quince. The ray. The sun. The tar. The 
^ane. The willow. The yoke. The zebra. 



INDIYIDUJILITY. 
The teacher in the public school, the in- 
structor for the pulpit, for the rostrum or for 



102 HOW TO READ, 

the stage, should always aim to preserve the 
individuality of the pupil. 

Rule. — Avoid teaching hy imitation. 
''Borrowed individualities, like borrowed 
garments, seldom fit." 

The full power of a pupil can never be devel- 
oped by imitation. It is often the case that a 
pupil possesses greater native talent than his 
teacher. The instructor should be keen enough 
to observe this, and master enough to touch the 
right springs of action for the pupil. By this 
imitation teaching, otherwise excellent minis- 
ters, orators and readers have been shorn of 
their native power. They cannot'soar upon the 
^ngs of eloquence, as is often their -want and 
need, because they have unfortunately fallen iil- 
to the hands of one who adopted the profession 
of teaching, but ^was never adopted by it. Such 
a. teacher lacks adaption. He attacks the man's 
mannerisms, and Avith his professional shears he 
clips the v^ings of the born eagle. 



Mannerisms. 
Mannerisms are quite frequently, the great 
po^wer of an orator. 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 103 

The true teacher will readily discriminate 
bet^ween those that add strength to the speaker 
and those that clog the wheels of his progressive 
nature. Allow him to keep the former, but aid 
him to gradually lay by the latter. Impress 
upon your pupils in the school-room, and of 
whatsoever calling, that anything which detri- 
mentally attracts to the individual, is liable to 
cfetract from the thought. We would prefer 
defectiveness to affectation. 



Sound vs. Sense. 
Rule. — Do not mistake volume of voice for 
intensity of expression. 

The loudest tones are not alwa^^s the most 
soul stirring. The clock with the loudest tick is 
not always the best. ''It is the empty \y agon 
that makes the most noise.'' The more intense 
the emotional expression, the lower should be 
the pitch of the voice; the more intense the 
mental, the higher should be the pitch of the 
voice. 

EXAMPLE. 

''Tail's address to the Alps." 



104 iaow TO REAiD, 

This may be shouted as an exercise for the 
voice, but when the soul is put in it, the voice 
will lower in proportion to the ''impress of 
divine awe." 

Here again, in sound vs. sense, we have the 
same type of elocutionist as the one who gets 
the garment to large for the object. 



DKChRNlRTORY vs. THE WflTURHL. 
Rule. — Avoid taking a higher pitch when it 
is increased force that is needed. 

EXAMPLE. 

" Cassius' speech on Honor" should not be declaimed as 
though Cassius were speaking to a man a hundred feet 
away, and as though Cassius had written it down to speak 
at Brutus the first time he met him. Have the tone, the 
volume of voice, the general character, consistent with the 
sense. 

There are two schools of elocution as there are 
two schools of acting. The declamatory school 
gives every Avord as if it ^svere committed to 
memory, and the gestures and attitudes are con- 
spicuous by the conscious effort of the performer. 
The natural school gives every thought as if it 
were born at the moment and uttered for the 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 105 

first time; the gestures and attitudes though 
quite jDrofuse do not invite special attention as 
they are not given as though the performer were 
conscious of them — and he should not be — 3'et, 
when attested by the philosophy of expression 
they are correct, because they were sponta- 
neous ; the mechanism not being visible. 



BOWING. 

This, of course, is not done in school reading, 
but is. reserved until the essa}'-, the oration or 
the declamation is given. We are all familiar 
with the stereotyped bow ; it has been the same 
for ages ; it asserts itself upon the platform with 
the public reader or speaker. 

We would not be so cruel as to rob the school- 
boy or school-girl of this privilege and pleasure, 
for they, as well as the audience, often get more 
satisfaction from the bow than from any- 
thing else. 

It is our intention to speak a word concern- 
ing its significance and appropriateness as 
relating to the rostrum. 

The public speaker or reader has no more 
cause to make a bow, than has the minister, — 
save in response to applause. In case of 



106 HOW TO READ, 

applause, he has an acknowledgement to which 
he must respond in return for something ren- 
dered him. 

It is very rude not to return a boAv. An 
audience never does. It is true, it may be a 
compliment to the speaker that the people are 
present ; but he should make it a compliment to 
them that he is there. If he is a master of his 
subject, they become indebted to him ; if he is 
not a master, he has no right there. If one still 
insists upon following the fashion, or has need 
to bow as an acknowledgment, we offer the 
following: make a graceful bow by merely in- 
clining the head. True, this is cold, but it is in 
keeping with a cold reception ; nevertheless, it is 
respect of the highest order and in harmony 
with the dignity of your position. 

If, hov^ever, you meet with a warm reception, 
you should, in proportion to its heartiness, 
return your heart-felt appreciation by inclining 
the body from the waist, — in so doing you 
incline the heart as well as the head. Do not 
drop the head so low as to hide the eyes. Keep 
them steadily fixed upon the audience, or the 
bow will be of such a nature as to bring you 
within the realm of humiliation— a position 



RECITE AND IMPERSONATE. 1U7 

which should never be taken by a speaker. 

Be not pompous, but firm ; keep a reserve of 
power in your voice, in your attitudes, and in 
your general bearing. 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 



As "There are loves and loves," so there are 
readers and readers. It is an error to suppose 
that every one can become *a good reader. 
Readers, like orators, are born, not made. It is 
essential to have constantly before us the highest 
type of manhood and womanhood as our ideal; 
to be possessed of the finest sensibilities ; to be 
thorough students of human nature ; else how 
could we interpret such characters. 

Our greatest orators, ministers, readers and 
public speakers are those whose words shine 
right through a clean, pure, white soul — ay, 
breathing, as it were, the very breath of the 
Divine. 

Two questions naturally arise here: First, 
is it to be understood that these qualities cannot 
be acquired? Second, if one possesses these 

(108) 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. -^qq 

qualities, what need of a teacher ? These quaU- 
ties can not be acquired ; there must be a germ, 
and that germ innate ; hence it will not be an 
acquisition but a cultivation of those qualities. 
There must be a something to cultivate, and 
the result will be in proportion to the con- 
geniality of the soil. 

Why do wc need the teacher? The possessor 
of these talents, like the unrefined gold or the 
diamond in the rough, must of necessity pass 
through a certain process, according to the in 
dividual needs, before claiming the highest 
attention, and being of the greatest value. In 
some cases these talents may possibly lie dor- 
mant, and even be unconscious to the possessor, 
but, like the instrument which cannot of itself 
play, it needs but the master hand to bring 
forth its sweetest melodies. 

One may possess the spirit, yet have much to 
learn that the spirit alone will not supply ; for 
instance, no one will read, speak or sing to the 
best advantage who does not breathe correctiy. 

By a very careful estimate it is found that 



110 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

only about eight in one hundred breathe cor- 
rectly, and not more than about one in five thou- 
sand — many of these teachers of elocution and 
teachers of vocal music — understand the proper 
management of the breath; i. e., to economize 
the expenditure of breath in the production of 
tone. Strange that we have lived all these years 
and do not breathe correctly? No, no more 
strange that we violate this than any other of 
nature's laws. But this fault, like all others 
must be duly atoned for. 

Do you ask for proof? You will find it in 
worn out ministers and other public speakers 
all over the country, many of whom have not 
yet reached their prime. 

We desire to call special attention to one very 
important fact, which all leading physicians 
will confirm; viz. There are more cases of 
bronchitis and pulmonary consumption caused 
by an ignorance of the proper use of the lungs 
and larynx than by all other causes combined. 

To prevent and remedy this trouble is the 
work of the teacher of elocution. Therefore t::c 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. ■['[-[ 

first step is to take the pupil back to childhood. 
Every heathful child breathes correctly, but, as 
he grows older, he seems to grow no wiser in 
this respect. 

Many people — especially ladies — make a very 
serious, ay, a fatal mistake, in assuming a 
wisdom beyond that of the Supreme Being, in 
endeavoring to reverse the order of the size of 
the lungs. Thus, through bad habits, and — 
v^orse corsets — and possibly by inheriting weak 
constitutions, we find so much of incorrect 
breathing; and this, as has already been shown, 
brings Avith it other defects, physical, and con- 
sequently vocal, many of which come under the 
direct province of the true teacher of elocution, 
who, to be such, must of necessity be thoroughly 
versed in vocal physiology; and, having this 
knowledge of the breathing and vocal appa- 
ratus, he can readily and effectively do with 
vocal treatment what cannot be so successfully 
and satisfactorily done with medicine. 

The medicine may remove the effect but does 
not reach the cause, and the same cause will 



112 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

produce a like effect ; therefore, by understand- 
ing the use of the voice, much of the lung, 
bronchial and throat trouble can be entirely 
eradicated, and, known in time, can be 
prevented. 

This knowledge will enable one to use the 
voice for hours, for consecutive nights, even for 
consecutive months, without hoarseness or 
weariness ; but, on the contrary this use, like 
every healthful exercise, will invigorate the 
whole system. This very important branch of 
our work is here stated, because a very general 
idea prevails that the business of an elocutionist 
is only to teach those who intend to become 
public readers . Year after year, from our various 
institures are graduated pupils to fill important 
positions — the pulpit, the bar, the school-room, 
etc., with no knowledge whatever of the use of 
the human voice. Mark the result. Call to 
mind as many as you will who occupy these 
positions, and how many are exempt from some 
throat, lung or bronchial trouble, arising wholly 
from an improper use of the lungs and larynx. 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 113 

Our pupils are furnished with knowledge, but 
no medium for the conveyance of that knowl- 
edge ; they are given the sword, but no handle 
wherewith to wield it. They know little or 
nothing of the human voice, "the great outlet 
and passage way of the soul, the canvas upon 
which we may throw thought and feeling that 
others may see and read ; the divine current 
which allies man to his fellow." 

It matters not in what business you may be 
engaged, or whether a lady or gentlemail of 
leisure, you will find in the study of true elocu- 
tion that which will meet your individual needs 
"and the better fit you for business or for the 
social circle. The study of the voice alone is 
advantageous in every vocation of life. *'The 
business man lays his voice by the side of his 
wares, and the eye of the purchaser harmonizes 
^th the ear in its judgment." Some voices 
repel, others attract. In the home circle, and in 
fact everywhere, it is well to remember that 
"Molasses catches more flies than vinegar." 



114 TRUE AXD FALSE ELOCUTION. 

Sw^eeten your A^oices and a'Ou will sweeten your 
lives and your homes. 

You should not be satisfied with Toice build- 
ing only, but culture the voice also, and this 
cultured voice w411 be reflex in its action. ^^Ac- 
quirement may pass aw^ay, but culture never 
leaves a man. By acquirement a man has 
something, by culture he is something. Culture 
engrosses the whole man." 

The tone of voice bespeaks the individual. 
One ma^^ be exquisitely dressed, yet show^ no 
proof of his good taste, for it mai^ be the work 
of another; but when w^e hear him speak we 
are not long in determining whether any one 
lives there or not, for "Expression is the dress 
of thought." Thus the quality oi the voice is 
just as essential as the quantity. 

Your hearers should not only be able to hear 
and understand, but by the qualit^^ of j^our 
voice be induced to listen. 

A dull, monotonous reader will not win the 
ear, however faultless otherwise the rendering 
of the sense. Ever^^ color of the rainbow^ is 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 115 

depicted in the htiman voice; hence the reader 
will — in proportion as he is an artist — use the 
artist's precision in the laying on of tints and 
the grouping of objects. Coloring, in reading, 
may be described as the different phases of 
emotional expression in the voice. The picture 
should be distinct in the mind of the reader, the 
central figure corresponding wdth the emphatic 
word. This distinctness must be carefully ob- 
served, else the audience will fail to see a clear 
painting. One of the old Arabian proverbs is, 
"When you read of a horse, see the prints of its 
hoofs." 

Let us now^ look for a moment at some of 
the faults of readers and teachers of elocution. 
There are none of us without faults, but what 
will here be mentioned, are among the more 
palpable. 

There are teachers who allows pupils to 
begin reading wathout any knowledge of the 
breathing or vocal appa.ratus, or the slightest 
idea of the formation of the elementarj^ sounds 
of the English language ; consequently, the 



116 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

critical ear must be the victim of the harsh 
and discordant sounds, the faulty articula- 
tion and pronunciation, and many other de- 
fects consequent on such teaching. But this is 
not all; teachers who ign®re this, from ^vhat- 
ever cause, are generally those who teach the 
do-as-I-do system; i.e., nothing but imitation. 
What an error, when we consider the fact that 
we are more apt in imitating faults than excel- 
lences. ''As reason increases, imitation de- 
creases." By this imitation teaching ^we soon 
find the pupil a mere machine, at no time in 
sympathy ^with the subject, merely calling 
words without any thoughts; so that such 
teachers without developing and disciplining the 
mind to act for itself, or enabling their pupils 
not only to perceive the thoughts of the great 
authors, but to comprehend them, and by the 
voice and its auxilliaries to intelligently and 
satisfactorily present them to an audience, they 
are merely teaching them to declaim, and caus- 
ing them, as has just been stated, to be mechan- 
ical in their work. (See page 101) . 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 117 )t^ 

All this requires much patience and study, but be 
assured, " The object is worthy the effort." 

A gentleman in Paris took his son to Delsarte 
— the great master of expression — to have him 
prepared for the stage. The gentleman asked 
Delsarte what play he should begin ^th; the 
answer was, ''Not any." " What book will he 
use? " " Not any." He began with the young 
man on one word, he ended with him on that 
one word, but not until he could speak it 625 
ways, with its corresponding expressions — facial 
and vocal — gestures, intonations, positions, etc., 
and when that was satisfactorily done, the 
young man passed from that instruction to the 
stage, and became an actor of great versatility 
and power. 

Let us look again at another class of readers 
and teachers — especially readers — w^ho have 
never had a lesson in elocution. Would you not 
deem it an act of insanity were a man to make 
music or painting his profession, without pre- 
vious study with a master of the art he pur- 
poses to practice? Reference is here made to a 



118 j\ TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION.. 

A statue is not a work of art when it shows 
the marks of the tools ; neither is the reader an 
artist when he shows the mechanism in his 
work, — ay, even if he showrs himself. 

When ^we look at a beautiful building and 
admire its architecture, ^wg see a 'work of art; 
we see the result of mechanism and not the 
mechanism itself; neither is there now any 
tra.ce of the rough scaffolding which was neces- 
sary for its completion. So it is with all art; 
whether it be "in the cold marble, or on the can- 
vas, or on the printed page," we should see no 
trace of anything which would mar its beauty. 
The reader should step upon the platform free 
from aught that would detract from the 
thought. Before an audience is not the place to 
practice ; but hours and days, and even months, 
of private work are necessary, so that the pre- 
vious drill will assure us that every tone oi 
voice, every position of the body, every gesture 
and facial expression, will respond to the im- 
pulses of the will. Then all will work in perfect 
harmony, and thought will be the motive power. 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 119 

class of readers who palm themselves oif as pro- 
fessionals, but possess no right whatever to the 
title. They belong to that large class oi natural 
readers who are self-satisfied, and seem to take 
pride in the thought that they Siv^ self-made. So 
they are, and generally worship their creator. 

There are many so-called natural readers who 
are very unnatural. Naturalness should be con- 
sistent with nature, and that of the highest 
order. The writer of this article was once a 
natural reader, i. e., naturally a very awkward 
and tempestuous one. Though thoroughly in- 
fused witn the spirit of the subject, his nature 
had become more or less perverted, or circum- 
stances over which he had no control had for a 
time governed him: consequently he was 
cramped in his expressions. It is essential to be 
free, free as the mountain stream, Tvhich, rush- 
ing hither and thither, is ever obedient to its 
source. These persons who are se7/^made and 
weeJ no instruction, remind us very much of the 
boy who built the ship. On being questioned 
as to the mechanic, he replied that he built it 



120 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 



himself all out of li:s own head, and had plenty 
^Arood left for another. Again, we find a class 
of teachers who claim to give you all in ten 
lessons. Possibly so ; i. e., all they have. All of 
elocution cannot be taught in ten lessons, nor 
ten weeks, nor ten months, nor ten years. It is 
the work of a lifetime, notwithstanding to the 
contrary there are teachers who claim to be able 
to graduate any one in three months, no matter 
whether he has any brains or not. Such teach- 
ers have elocution on the brain, but very little 
brain on elocution. Perfection is unkno^vn in 
this art ; were it possible to reach that state, 
there would be nothing more to work for. As 
we advance so does our ideal. It is not claimed 
that nothing can be done in ten lessons ; very 
much indeed may be accomplished, according 
to the ability of the teacher and the aptness 
of the pupil. 

It is astonishing to note the lack of judg- 
ment, at times, that the great mass of people 
sho^w in reference to elocution. For instance — a 
pupil who has had no previous instruction in 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 121 

the art, probabh^ has never read a line in public 
and, what is more, cannot even call the words ; 
has a voice throaty, possibly nasal, wathal; 
does not know what a gesture means ; can only 
make a few motions and those of a pump- 
handle nature ; has not firmness enough to even 
stand erect before an audience; lacks ideality 
and individuality^ and never dreams of sublim- 
ity; such a one, with these and many other 
faults having finished a course, of ten lessons, 
and beirg invited to pass an evening Vv^th 
friends, is importuned to read, and the an- 
nouncement that he does not yet feel competent 
so to do is received v^ith astonishment. What, 
ten lessons, and not able to read ? 

Would you think of asking a pupil at the 
completion of ten lessons in either vocal or in- 
strumental music to entertain friends? Is not 
the one just as reasonable a demand as the 
other? Is it not strange that, w^hile multitudes 
are industriously striving to learn the art of 
singing, it appears not to be known that the 
art of reading and speaking demands equally 



122 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

patient study, and is vastly more useful when 
attained? Are you aware that in the use of the 
human voice you are learning to play upon the 
most delicate and difficult instrument in the 
world ? Simple, 'tis true, but all the greater for 
its simplicity. No heart so hardened that may 
not be touched by its melodies. Reading is both 
a science and an art. ''Science is a knowledge 
of facts and forces ; art is the intellectual and 
manual power to control such forces for the 
gratification and benefit of mankind. Science is 
the embodiment of intellectual discoveries ; art 
is the archangel which puts theory into practice 
for the world's permanent good." The highest 
art is to conceal art. **To hold the mirror up 
to nature." Nature should never be sacrificed 
for the sake of effect. (See page 96). 

Let us study nature in its various forms and 
learn to appreciate an artist, whether he be on 
the stage or platform, and it will be but a short 
time till acting and reading of this order will 
receive its true and due merit, and the ranter 
will have had his day. The word elocution has 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 123 

become so perverted that we have now come to 
look upon an elocutionist as one who plays 
with his voice ; i. e., the more noise the more elo- 
cution, thereby falling into the very common 
error of mistaking volume of voice for intensity 
of expression. (See page 103). 

The very root of all oratory is to gain the 
sympathy of your audience, and this is done, in 
a great degree, by the tone of voice; and the 
voice, to be thoroughly sympathetic, must have 
the heart element in it. ''True eloquence con- 
sists in not only feeling a truth yourself, but in 
making those who hear you feel it." There are 
three channels through ^which every vocal ex- 
pression must pass in order to be effectual and 
serve for proof as to whether the speaker is in 
sympathy with his subject, viz., mental, facial 
and vocal, and will be expressed in this order. 
Words from the mind are but the mind made 
audible, and the tone of voice will therefore vary 
^4th every wave of thought or feeling. Every 
sentence should be fraught with meaning; but 
the speaker should so control his voice as to 



^24 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

address liis hearers in sticli a manner that they 
will be conscious of a reserved power, a force 
behind the actual expression, which they feel, 
but cannot measure. In the rendering of what 
is pathetic, personal grief is a fault, and excites 
either pity or contempt for the speaker. We 
must feel the grief that takes in all mankind. 
(See page 89). The greater the grief, the deeper, 
and more nearly inexpressible, when it does have 
vent, the result is not merely a bubbling over at 
the lips, but a bursting forth as though the very 
heart would break. 

Our control over an audience is in proportion 
to our control over ourselves. There is proba- 
bly no word in the English language that will 
better convey our meaning — though more ex- 
pressive than elegant — than ''slopping over." 

Artemus Ward said of George Washington, 
''He never slopped over." The application of 
this remark in reading is this; however pa- 
thetic the selection, try to master your grief 
instead of allowing it to master you. This very 
in^ward struggle of the emotions Mrill give you a 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 125 

power over an audience that can never be had 
if you allow the tears perfect freedom ; in other 
words, tinge your voice with the sadness of 
your heart, and in proportion as you have pre- 
viously acquainted j^ourself with the voice in its 
varied moods, you will express greater or less 
emotion. Do not mistake this word efnotion. 
We frequently have a great deal of motion, with 
little or no emotion. Emotion is a moving- out, 
not of the limbs merely, but of thought and 
feeling from the heart. Every movement that 
does not add to the effect will c/etract therefrom, 
whether it be of the head, hand or foot. Thus, 
many men mistake motion for emotion, and are 
thus led to believe that perspiration is inspira- 
tion. '' Simplicity is the basis of all excellence." 
Though much stress has been laid upon the 
voice, let us not lose sight of the fact that the 
positions of the body affect the tone of voice, 
and that you will also find them harmonizing, 
thereby showing very dearly, so to speak, the 
attitude of the mind. 

This is AAxll illustrated bv one under the in- 



126 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

fluence of liquor; the body becomes limp, the 
tongue ceases to act with neatness and pre- 
cision, thereby destroying the best articulate 
effect, and the voice takes on the vital tone and 
harmonizes with the body in its lack of support. 
(An illustration is here given by the speaker) 

One tnay readily perceive the harmony exist- 
ing between the physical and vocal expressions. 
Another example in ^which you all may have 
had some experience; viz., endeavoring to speak 
pleasantly while you are looking cross, or vice 
versa, neither of w^hich it is possible to do. 

Another very prevalent fault among readers 
and public speakers, is that of dropping the 
tone. (See page 85). We deal with thoughts 
as we deal with tangible objects. 

There comes to mind a certain pastor in a 
distant city Avho never gave his thoughts to his 
congregation, but kept his eye steadily fixed 
upon a favorite place in the ceiling, and there he 
lodged all his thoughts ; at least, such was the 
supposition, for they were never heard of 
afterward. 



TRUE AND TRLSE ELOCUTION. 127 

Again : A fault in which nearly every reader 
must admit of poSvSessing his share, viz., person- 
ating v^^here there is mereh^ narrative. (See 
page 73). 

Let us now "come to the quick and the heart 
of the matter" hj asking ourselves why we do 
not have better reading and a better apprecia- 
tion of correct reading. Because of ignorance 
of the so-called professors of their art. The 
public, also, are in a great measure responsible. 
We must admit there are teachers of elocution 
and public readers in many of our cities who 
have but a mere smattering of the art they pro- 
fess to teach. Charlatans exist in ever^^ profes- 
sion. Anything genuine will have many 
counterfeits and the counterfeiters will receive 
patronage and meet with a certain degree of 
success so long as the public remain in ignorance 
of what constitutes the true elements essential 
to correct reading and teaching ; therefore public 
taste not being sufficiently cultivated accounts, 
in a great measure, for the scarcit\^ of good 
readers, or more properly, perhaps, the preva- 



128 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

lence of bad ones. If those who hear such 
readers and teachers would learn to discriminate 
between the true and the false, the standard of 
the one ^would be raised, and the other seek its 
level. 

The true reader and teacher is. a representa- 
tive in a profession second to none in the world ; 
a profession, which, when thoroughly taught, 
includes in that teaching much that tends to 
make life grander, nobler, and to fit us for the 
higher walks of life. To the reader is given an 
opportunity of wielding an influence the po^wer 
of which is often greater than that of the min- 
ister of the gospel. One is able in a public read- 
ing to reach a class of individuals who never 
come within the pale of the church, and it is 
only a statement of facts to say that this class 
embraces many grand, noble men and women. 
True, practical elocution and true, practical 
religion go hand in hand ; for all public reading 
should be elevating in its character; should 
have as its object the exalting of what is good 
and the suppression of what is evil. To do this 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. ^29 

it is not necessar\' to be an ''Aunt3^ Doleful." 
The masses, we are aware, call for comedj^; 
then let ns present a good class, but not all 
comedy. Let ns present the dark and the bright 
side of the picture, that by the contrast greater 
good may be done. How many a sad heart has 
been cheered by the presentation of a good 
comedy, and how many a youth, rushing head- 
long to destruction, has been checked and caused 
to reflect, by the portrayal of a character so like 
his owm. What sermons lie in such selections as 
''The Bridge of Sighs," "The Actor's Story," 
"The Vagabonds , " " One Day Solitary, " " Beau- 
tiful Snow," "Why a Boot-black sold his Kit," 
"Betsey and I are out," "Ho\v^ Betsey and I 
made up," etc. Let us ask ourselves, "Did God 
ever make a heart that would not respond if the 
right chord were touched?" What a pleasant 
thought to know that it lies within the province 
of a reader, many times, to touch a chord that 
has long been mute. Allow us to cite but 
two of many instances coming directly under 
the notice of the writer of this article, he serving 



130 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

as the humble instrument thereof. On one 
occasion, the reading of the last tw^o named 
selections, '^Betsey and I are out'' and ''How 
Betsey and I made up," was the means of re- 
uniting a family that had been separated seven 
years. At another time the recital of the poem, 
" One Day Solitary," touched the heart of many 
a convict who saw in its portrayal but a reflex 
of himself, and the ultimate good may never be 
known except to Him who reads our inmost 
thoughts. 

We shall never forget the Iook of the most 
hardened criminal w^ithin those prison ^walls, as 
he sat before us with folded arms during the 
impersonation of this poem. He watched us 
steadily with unflinching eye, from beneath 
those black, massive, shaggy eyebrows, while 
ever and anon his hand would steal neivously 
to his cheek. For what! For what? To brush 
away a tear. Ay, a tear that he would not 
willingly have shed for the world, for, as he 
glanced hastily at his comrade on either side, a 
l^right light shot quickly athwart those swarthy 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 131 

features, when he recognized the same act in 
them. 

Ay, on that occasion, one word bedimmed 
man^^ an eye that had long been strange to 
tears, and softened many a heart that the world 
would call cold and indifferent ; that one word 
^^as '' Mother; " and, as it was uttered, many a 
head bent low, and who can tell the many 
varied scenes of life that passed before them in 
quick succession in panoramic view ? What 
word in the English language associates with it 
so much of tenderness, gentleness, forgiveness, 
as ''Mother." 

Then what are we to glean from these facts ? 
That while we entertain, we should also in- 
struct. The reader in the course of the evening 
should paint for an audience at least one picture 
of good influence in such a manner that it would 
hang on memorj^'s walls for A^ears, perhaps 
forever. The reader should not leave an im- 
pression of himself, but of the characters and 
various scenes which he represents to you. 
When you leave an entertainment, ask 3^our- 



132 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

selves, as a test of its merit, in addition to the 
enjoyment of the passing hour, was it elevating 
in its character ? Do j^ou carry away with you 
anything that will make your heart lighter, 
your path brighter, your resolutions of char- 
acter more firm ? J/not, it has not been w^holly 
a success. The reader should be encouraged in 
this class of reading by the public not being 
satisfied with mere show. We especialty refer 
to costume readings. They are very good of 
their kind and in their way, but should never 
be recognized on the reading platform proper. 
No reader who is an artist in his profession ^vvill 
ever have occasion to resort to wigs or costum- 
ing. He ^who does so has not yet reached a very 
high standard as a reader, though he may be 
excellent in his specialty. It is said that " charity 
covereth a multitude of sins ; " ay, so do hand- 
some wardrobes, costumes and wig, cover a 
multitude of elocutionary sins. They may 
please the eye, but they fail to win the ear. It 
were better if readers would get into the atmos- 
phere of the selections and think less of getting 



TRUE AXD FALSE ELOCUTION. 133 

into the wardrobe. No two persons ever see a 
statue or painting exactly the same, but 
through the eye as it has been educated. The 
person of culture and refinement looks upon a 
statue and sees only that which is suggestive of 
high art, Avhile the person of low order and de- 
graded tastes, looking through flaming ej^es of 
passion, sees naught that is suggestive of purity. 
Though the statue may be the same in both 
cases, the ej^es being differently educated, behold 
a different statue. So it is with the characters 
the reader portra3's. If he but voice the words 
of the author, the audience ^11 clothe the char- 
acters to suit their individual tastes, but if he 
clothes it, he compels them to look at it as he 
presents it ; i. e., according to his conception, no 
matter how inconsistent it msij be with theirs. 
Even in so-called character readings, it is only 
the business of the reader to clothe the thought 
by giving it the proper expression, and leave the 
costuming to the varied tastes and imagina- 
tions of the audience. 

Costuming belongs to the stage and not to 



134 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION, 

the platform, except where one makes a specialty 
of impersonating some ^well known characters 
of our own day. Some of us have seen and 
heard a reader of Shakespeare, who would faith- 
fully and satisfactorily portray to an audience 

It 
the tenderness of a Juliet, the pathos of an 

Ophelia, and the terrible passion of a Lear, and 
all this without change of costume or use of a 
wig. Many of you, undoubtedly, have had the 
pleasure of listening to the readings of the late 
Charlotte Cushman, ^who would paint, in vivid 
colors, the entire tragedy of Macbeth, wrhile she 
v^ould remain sitting at the reading desk — a 
fine example of reserved power. Are youa^ware 
that more and better talent is required to be- 
come a good versatile reader than a star actor ? 
While an actor for an evening portrays but 
one character, and that with the assistance of 
costuming, scenic effect, and other, sometimes 
equally attractive actors, the reader stands 
alone, without costuming, without scenic effect, 
without any but imaginary characters to draw 
out his power, and presents to an audience, by 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 135 

his voice and action, all kinds and conditions of 
character, scenery of varied description, etc., 
and all this so effectually, that you at once for- 
get the reader and are yourselves living amid 
those scenes and walking and talking with those 
characters. To sum it all up, a certain French 
writer has so well expressed it: "The actor is 
only the soloist in the orchestra, the reader 
is the whole orchestra.^ ^ Many of you, doubt- 
less, have heard readers, whom, by their elocu- 
tionary vociferations, you would pronounce a 
vsrhole brass band — not much of a compliment 
to the band, either. Whenever you hear an 
actor or a dramatic critic speak disparagingly 
of elocution as a qualification essential for the 
stage, you may rest assured he is either preju- 
diced or does not know of what true elocution 
consists. Declamatory and mechanical readers, 
like declamatory and mechanical actors, are 
abominable. A true reader will make a true 
actor. Hear what a New York dramatic critic 
— who is not predjudiced — has to say upon the 
subject. Writing of a certain actor and actress, 



136 TRUE AND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

he says, ''They are thoroughly trained^ they 
know the principles of their art, a very diiferent 
thing from knowing the business; they pay 
laudable attention to one supremely important 
point recklessly disregarded upon our stage, viz., 
— Elocution . ' ' When we consider the deficiencies 
of many of our readers and actors; i. e., their 
limited knowledge of their profession, surely it 
is not unjust to cite, as a parallel case, that of 
the man who had acknowledged that he had 
never been to school, but boasted that he had 
met the children on the way to and from. 
" Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing 
v^ell." When a man chooses his profession, or 
as it should be, when a profession chooses the 
man, he should be willing to give his life work 
to it. 

One thought more, and that briefly stated. 
We must not expect general good reading until 
v^e have more knowledge of it in our public 
schools. Bad habits acquired in childhood in 
the performance of the merely mechanical act of 
sounding printed words, without the ideas that 



TRUE AND FALSE ELOfUTlON. 137 

they are intended to convey, are the foundation 
of bad readers in after life; the words going in 
at the eye, and coming out at the mouth with- 
out passing through the intelHgent mind. 

There is no branch of education more needed 
and yet more neglected than reading. As " edu- 
cation does not consist in the possessioi^, merely, 
but in the application of kno^edge," and that 
application must have a medium, and that me- 
dium is generally the voice, then hoAV can we 
place too much stress upon the teachings of true 
elocution ? 

Let us accord, then, to a master of this art 
the highest place in one of the highest profes- 
sions, because of his worth to the world at 
large ; remembering at all times that a man is 
not estimated* 'by what the iror/c? gives to him, 
but by what he gives to the world; " and add 
to this the fact that ''our highest happiness is 
reflex ; it is that w^hich comes back to us from 
the joy we have given others." It has been our 
endeavor in the foregoing, to invite thinking 
minds to look at the subject in its true light; 



138 TRUE %A.ND FALSE ELOCUTION. 

and our conclusions are that w^e must have a 
higher standard of reading and teaching, and 
that the duty of securing this result devolves 
upon teacher, reader and hearer. 



BIBLE RZADINQ, 



'• So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly and gave the 
sense and caused the people to understand the /cadujg. "—Nehemiah 8-8. 



We are aware that we are stepping on sacred 
ground, in consequence of which we anticipate 
many of the objections that will be raised, but 
it is our purpose to meet them fairlj^ and 
squareh^ Our object is a worthy one, hence we 
apprehend no charge of irreverence, feeling 
assured that whatever means may be used, will 
be fully justified by the end in view. 

At the ver^^ first step on the road of investi- 
gation \ve are met by the question, — "Is the 
Word of God to be read as any other book?" 
Our answer is, "yes and no." 

Yes ; it requires all the shades of feeling to be 
expressed in a manner consistent with the 
thought. We are to be governed by the same 

(139) 



140 BIBLE READING. 

law of emphasis and inflection, as in the reading 
of other books. We should endeavor to make 
the scenes live again. 

No ; we should not invest scripture reading 
with such characterization as we would in the 
portra\^al of Shakespearean personages ; we 
should suggest, rather than imitate. Give the 
sentiment, but tone it down. The tones maybe 
the same in kind but should be less in degree. 

In the reading of the Bible, the minister 
should not forget that he is a reader — not an 
actor. 

Gestures are not called for in Bible reading. 
Even in the most impassioned discourses, the 
tones of voice should be adequate for the expres- 
sion of all emotions. The minister — in reading 
the Bible — stands as reporter and auditor, and 
he should read with a feeling of moral force and 
interpretation. He should not stand aloof, for 
he is a man of like passions with us. In sacred 
writings there are two voices — the Divine and 
the human. 

We are very well aware that there is a strong 



BIBLE READING. 141 

prejudice existing against throwing any expres- 
sion in Bible reading. We are thoroughly 
convinced of this by the indifferent manner in 
which it is so often read ; onh^ partially due to 
prejudice, perhaps, and partially to lack of 
stud3^ We would like to impress upon minis- 
ters, the fact that ''The goodness of a man's 
cause can not palliate his careless neglect of its 
advocacy-." 

Sabbath after Sabbath, as we sit in our pew, 
we hear words of admonition from the minister, 
and ever linked therewith the consolation that 
" It is never too late to begin." We now have 
the floor, and we desire to talk to the minister. 

To the young man we wish to offer words of 
comfort and encouragement, as he is about to 
launch, or ma^^ have just launched, on the min- 
isterial sea. We also desire to point out the 
dangerous shoals upon which his brother's 
barque has so often been stranded, and in some 
cases totally wrecked. 

To those advanced in years and in experience. 
We desire to say to them what they have so 



142 BIBLE READING. 

often said to us, "It is never too late to begin." 
We would like to point all earnest workers 
directly to the Bible for their instruction con- 
cerning the reading of the Bible. 

" So they read in the book, in the law of God 
distinctlj^, and gave the sense, and caused the 
people to understand the reading." 

The foregoing words may be found in Nehe- 
miah, 8th chapter and 8th verse. They embody . 
much that appertains to the subject of such 
reading as is required at the sacred desk. Mark 
you, that at the very onset, v^e draw a line 
between reading and reciting. "So they readin 
the book ; " they did not recite from the book. 

The manner in ^which they read should be im- 
pressed upon every man w^ho takes upon himself 
the responsible office of reading to others the 
Word of God. How many of our ministers, 
to-day, read either the Bible or the hymns dis- 
tinctly. Fewer still are they who read in such a 
manner as to ''cause the people to understand 
the reading." To cause them to understand, 



BIBLE READING. 143 

implies an act on the part of the reader, beyond 
that of distinct utterance. 

The words are vehicles of thought, hence they 
should not go empty to the hearer but be well 
ladened . A word , as we view^ it upon the printed 
page is, of itself, cold and meaningless. Do we 
realize the value of our spoken language ? What 
is it that causes one speaker to be more inter- 
esting than another? You may say it is his 
manner. What is that manner? Is it to be 
found in the words which he utters, or in the 
manner of uttering them ? You will unhesitat- 
ingly say it is in the manner, and the manner is 
in the man, not in the matter. 

To illustrate this we v^ill cite a very old inci- 
dent, but none better can be used to serve our 
purpose. When the Bishop of London asked 
the great actor Betterton — ' ' Why is it that 
night after night you sway your audiences at 
will, moving them to laughter or to tears, Avhile 
for the most part you are dealing with fiction ; 
and yet, those same persons will sit so utterly 
unmoved when listening to discourses from the 



144 BIBLE READING. 

pulpit, though instead of fiction, we are speak- 
ing the mighty truths of the gospel ? ' ' The 
great tragedian said, "We speak fiction as 
though it were truth, but you speak truth as 
though it were fiction." 

Let us look again at the word upon the 
printed page. Every word possesses three 
forms of life. It has its eye-life, its ear-life, and 
its soul -life. Its eye-life is its orthography ; its 
ear-life is its ortho"py ; its soul-life is its signifi- 
cance or expression. How many public speakers 
there are who never invest their language with 
the soul inspiring element. 

A meeting was held a short since in our 
resident city to raise money for ' ' The Home for 
the Friendless." Many were the speeches made 
by learned men, who thought more of their dic- 
tion than of the great needs of the hour. No 
special enthusiasm had been aroused, no 
response worthy of mention had resulted. The 
evening was far spent, and the case looked 
hopeless, when an elderly gentleman arose and 
spoke but three words, — "Homeless, friendless, 



BIBLE READING. 145 

moneyless." They were sotil-felt Avords. They 
thrilled the audience. The result was almost 
magical. 

Was the power in the words, or in the 
manner of expressing them? True it is, they 
were well chosen words and proved to be the 
most active agents that could be, or at least 
had been used. Suppose he had spoken them 
unfeelingly — ''Homeless, friendless, moneyless." 
The result would naturally be, ''Is that so? 
That's too bad!" In this case only the head, 
not the heart, would respond. 

The last speaker fully realized the fact that to 
get hold of the purse-strings, he must first get 
hold of the heart-strings. Instead of words as 
words, it was thoughts as thoughts. 

How much thought do you suppose the 
minister gave to his scripture lesson when he 
misplaced the emphasis in speaking of obeying 
the command to '^get the ass and saddle him." 
He said, they got the ass and saddled him. 

On another occasion he showed forth a pre- 
dominant characteristic of his nature when 



146 BIBLE READING, 

reading the sentence, '' They sat at the table and 
did eat." His nature was made manifest by 
saying, "They sat at the table and did eat." 

It seems to us that even greater care is 
needed in the reading of the Bible, than in the 
reading of any other book. 

To more fully impress the law of emphasis 
and inflection upon the reader of the Bible, we 
will cite one or two cases outside of the sacred 
writings. 

Even in the treatment of this subject, we have 
taken the liberty to intersperse the same with 
anecdotes, for the reason that "sometimes an 
anecdote wll make plain what an argument 
would fail to satisfy." 

Imagine our surprise when listening to the 
reading of Marco Bozarris, to hear the ^words 
" Come in consumptions ghastly form " read in 
full strong terms, as follows: "Come in, con- 
sumptions ghastly form." 

On another occasion an actor, essaying the 
role of lago, desiring to sho^w to his fello^w- 
actors and to the audience that he was a man 



BIBLE READING. 147 

of some originality, when speaking to Othello in 
reference to Cassio's honesty (which he very 
much doubted) and which should have been 
voiced in the form as given by Shakespeare, /. e., 
*' Honest, my lord?" he, to the surprise and 
amusement of all, turned the interrogatory into 
an exclamatory sentence ^' Honest ! m3^ Lord ! 

Sometime since we had the pleasure of listen- 
ing to a noted divine in Boston with whom we 
were deeply impressed by his reading of the 
Bible and of the hymns, the earnestness of his 
prayer, and the able discourse so ably presented. 
During the discourse he said, " I often attend 
the theatre, and I wish to emphasize Ihe legiti- 
mate theatrQ ; i. e., where I can witness the in- 
terpretation of human nature as depicted in 
Shakespeare, and has been so grandly por- 
trayed by such men as Booth, Barrett and 
McCullough. 

When I return to my home, I take up my 
Bible and exclaim, 0, that -we ministers v/ould 
spend the same amount of time, labor and 
study, on this grand, old book of books, that 



148 BIBLE READING. 

the actor does upon that one book— Shakes- 
peare. Not only that we may the better under- 
stand it, but that we may enable others to 
understand it." 

These words, my friends, fell from the lips of 
a grand and good man. 

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the 
careful study necessary for effective reading of 
the Bible. 

' Hep worth, Chapin, Beecher and others might 
be mentioned as examples of those v^ho have 
given special study to Bible Reading, Hymn 
Reading and Pulpit Eloquence, Hepv^orth is 
said to be 'a biblical reader of great reputation ; 
that his reading of the story of Daniel in the lion's 
den, is one of wonderful vividness. 

Chapin drew immense audiences, many of 
^vhom were drawn thither, largely by his own 
soul-inspiring rendition of the hymns. There 
are a great many ministers who draw very 
largely by their rendition of the hymns, but it is 
a drawing something akin to that of the den- 
tist. It is a painful operation in the absence 



BIBLE READING. 149 

of art. It becomes rending vs. rendering. 

Beecher's voice was once very defective, but 
he overcame the defect by proper elocutionary 
drill v^hen he was a young man. He often 
reverted with ardent delight to his old asso- 
ciations and his shouting in the woods. 

Let young men emulate the example set by 
these men of powder and maj^ they go forth 
earnestly with a determination to give diligent 
heed to those requirements essential to correct 
and effective reading. 

It is praise worthy in any young man to 
strive honorably in smj honorable profession, for 
the highest place in that profession. What actor 
is content in remaining in a mediocre position ? 
Then what minister should be? The grander 
the mission, the greater should be the ambition. 
The higher one attains in a calling, the greater 
are his possibilities of doing good. The more 
time the minister devotes to the study of the 
reading of the Bible the more will he find of its 
hidden truths and beauties. 

Mrs. Siddons, of the eighteenth century, after 



150 BIBLE READING. 

making herself famous in her grand conception 
and portrayal of Lady Macbeth, said — ''I have 
not yet finished the study of the part." These 
words were spoken at the expiration of thirty 
years of only such study as a true artist will 
give. 

Joe. Jefferson — whose name has become im- 
mortalized by his characterization of '' Rip. Van 
Winkle" — is as true an artist as treads the 
boards of the American stage. 

Nothing can be more in accordance with 
nature, than the manner v^ith ^which he invests 
his words and his actions. Yet, he employs 
nature's hand-maid, art, in all that he does, and 
thus illustrates that higher art, which conceals 
art. He studied faithfully during the greater 
part of* five years to acquire a particular inflec- 
tion, when in a certain portion of the play, he 
had occasion to call to him, his little daughter 
Mena. 

What incentives these examples should be to 
our young men in any calling — a worthy calling 
— to do well whatsoever they attempt. We cite 



BIBLE READING. 151 

these true examples of the pulpit and of the 
stage, because they are true examples. TheA^ 
illustrate an art second to none in the world. 
Art and nature should so commingle that the 
line of distinction is not discernible. 

A man stepped into a bank in Cincinnati and 
presented a check to be cashed. He was a 
stranger, hence was informed that he must be 
identified. He said to the clerk, "Why, do you 
not know me ? " "No, sir, of course I know of 
you very well, but by what means am I to rec- 
ognize 3^ou as Joe Jefferson ? " 

He looked at the clerk a moment, and then in 
an instant, began to let his thoughts play with 
and among those noble and mobile features, 
until the clerk saw Rip Van Winkle appearing 
before him. Jefferson looked at him a moment, 
and then slightly turning as if to leave, he said 
"Doii'd know me! don'd know me! veil, I vill 
call Schneider, my dog, he kno\A^s me." It is 
needless to say, the check was cashed. 

Was that Joe Jefferson ? Was it the man ? It 
was the man and manner and art. 



152 BIBLE READIGN. 

When a simple narrative in the Bible is read, 
it should be with just that simplicity illustrated 
by this great man in his great character. Sim- 
ple but effective. There are portions of the Bible 
that require great passion, great force, intense 
sorrow, and overwhelming joy, to be expressed 
through that great medium — the human voice. 

Read each part in a manner consistent with 
the part. If it is Paul before Agrippa, make 
us to see Paul and Agrippa, or ^what is better 
still, make us to feel the presence of these men. 
Suggest the power with which Paul spoke to 
that King — i. e., the reserved power. If it is 
Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, or upon the 
cross, suggest the anguish commingled with the 
resignation. It can only be suggested ; no mor- 
tal can do more. If it is in the nature of a 
colloquy as vthat carried on between the blind 
man and the Jews and the Pharisees and the 
parents of the blind man, then that picture ^ 
should be vividly brought before us, by the 
reader suggesting the various ones in their 
respective doubts and inquiries; but by no 



BIBLE READING. 153 

means should he endeavor to imitate them. 
That would be dramatic action misapplied. It 
is such elocution that has barred the true 
teacher of the art, from our schools, colleges and 
seminaries. 

When one is reading joyful thoughts from 
the Bible thtj should be read in a joyful manner, 
in a tone appropriate to the thought. If j^ou 
say ''Make a joyful noise unto the Lord;" do 
not whine it as much as to sslj — you make a 
joyful noise if 3'ou can. J can't. I have nothing 
to be joyful for. If you read "The Lord is m\^ 
Shepherd I shall not want," make it appear so 
by the manner in which 3'ou read it, instead of 
causing us to doubt 3'our faith by your doleful 
expression. 

True it is, the Bible is the most difficult of all 
books to read aloud ; then why should not the 
minister devote much time to the study thereof. 
Many a man spends his entire forces upon his 
sermon, making no preparation for the Bible- 
reading or for the hj^mn-reading. The reading 
of the Bible and of the h^^mns is to the sermon 



154 BIBLE READING. 

what the tilhng of the soil is to the seed. There 
is no wonder why the seed that is sown, fahs 
so often upon barren soil, because the indiffer- 
ence manifested by the preacher in his reading is 
felt and even forced upon the congregation. 
Every minister impels, compels or repels. 

We find a special difficulty in the reading of 
the Bible, arising from its division into verses, 
and its very incorrect and imperfect punctuation. 
You will find it necessary to over-look the 
printed signs and introduce your own pauses 
according to the requirement of the composition. 
It should be read so that the listener niay be 
unable to discover, by your voice, where a verse 
begins or ends, unless the thought being voiced, 
is complete. The sense does not require this ^ 
breaking up into verses, but on the contrary it 
is purely arbitrary. It does not exist in the 
original, but ^was adopted in the translation, 
merely for the convenience of reference, and for 
chanting. 

We have heard men make as bungling mis- 
takes in the pulpit when reading the Bible, as did 



BIBLE READING. 155 

the president of a banquet one night when read- 
ing or announcing the various toasts. 

The first was — "Let the toast he, dear 
woman." But the gentleman who responded, 
said, "Let the toast be — dear ^voman ! " 

At the conclusion of this response the presi- 
dent announced another. 

"Woman, without her man, is a brute.^^ He 
re-read it with greater emphasis " Woman, 
without her man is a hrate.'' A gentleman 
arose and said that he did not view woman in 
that light, and while he had no fault to find 
wdth the words used, he must take exceptions 
to the manner in which they were read. He said 
he did not think "Woman without her man, is 
a brute" but he ^^ould say, "Woman! \Yithout 
her, man is a brute." You will perceive that the 
latter reading makes man the brute instead of 
the woman. Well, what does all this signify ? 
Simply a matter of punctuation. 

Punctuation serves as a guide to the author's 
idea, but should not alwa\'s be regarded in the 
deliver^^ of the thought. While there is no 



156 BIBLE READING. 

puncttiation in the Bible from beginning to end, 
L e., in the original, there is in every language 
an idiom peculiar to itself, and one must under- 
stand that idiom before he can give to the words 
their proper significance. 

This brings us to a very important step con- 
cerning Bible reading. The assertion ^we are 
about to make may find many opponents ; if so, 
^we trust Ave may at least be credited ^vith the 
expression of honest convictions. 

Everj^ educated minister is expected to know 
his Greek Testament and his Hebrew Bible. 
This he must do or rely wholly upon comment- 
ators — before he can intelligently preach to in- 
telligent people. 

We believe that none other than an edu- 
cated man should ever take upon himself the 
responsible position of expounding the scriptures 
to an intelligent congregation. 

Any man may preach — after a fashion — but 
it may simply be an essay on some subject found 
in the Bible and for ^vhich he has chosen a text. 
He reads the text as his foundation, but in 



BIBLE READING. 157 

manj' cases it is the last Ave hear of it. 

Can a man read the Bible as punctuated and 
read it correctly as to the sense? Impossible. 
There are thoughts cut in twain that should be 
linked (See Genesis ii chapter, 16 verse) and 
there are thoughts linked that should be 
separated. 

What light can an uneducated minister throw 
upon the following sentence, the ver\^ punctua- 
tion of which causes two renderings thereof, re- 
sulting in a separation of churches, erecting a 
barrier between the mother-church and those 
that have succeeded her? We will read the 
passage two ways. 

''Verily, verily I say unto you, this day thou 
shalt be v^ith me in Paradise." 

''Verily, verity I sa^- unto you this day, thou 
shalt be with me in Paradise." 

The change of punctuation in the foregoing, 
has no more effect upon the change of thought, 
than in the two renderings of the following 
Shakespearean quotation. 



158 BIBLE READING. 

"There is a Divinity which shapes our ends, 
rough-hew them as v^e will." 

There is a Divinity which shapes our ends 
rough, hew them as v^e w^ill. 

One needs to be an intelligent expounder of 
the Bible, because some people read it literally. 
Think of the old lady who called upon her pas- 
tor saying. — " I am quite sure I cannot live with 
John any longer. I've tried every way I could 
to keep peace." 

"My dear sister, you must not give up. 
Whatever he may say or do, you should not 
provoke him, but you should 'heap coals of fire 
upon his head.' " 

"Coals of fire upon his head? Oh no! you 
don't know him. Why that will never do one 
bit of good." 

" Have you tried it my sister? " "No, no. I 
never tried coals of fire, but I've tried hot 
water. '^ 

In closing the subject of Bible reading we 
wish especially to impress the fact that the 
greater the position one occupies, the more will 



t 



BIBLE READING. 159 

he be called to account for his opportunities. 

Whatever may be the talents given to men in 
other callings, the ministry surely possesses its 
full quota, and he who occupies a position there- 
in, shall be held accountable for the use or the 
abuse thereof, and among these the one of Bible 
reading is of no little moment. 



^^P 



HyjviJM RE/\DlJ^q. 



Hymn Reading seems to receive much less 
attention than Bible reading which means no 
attention at all. Hymns are not always poetry, 
but prose in rhythmical form with ends of lines 
to rhyme. There are few ministers who do more 
than simply glance at a hymn, and the manner 
in which they are generally read, ^vonld lead one 
to suppose that they are not even favored with 
the glance. There is only one reason that we 
can give for this neglect, i. e., the minister sees 
no sense in the hymn he is reading, consequently 
sees no sense in reading it differently. To such a 
one we would say, that which does not add to the 
effect, ^11 surely detract therefrom, and for this 
reason we claim, that unless care and study are 
given to the reading of the hymns, it were much 

(160) 






HYMN READING. 161 

better not to read them at all. It is a waste of 
time. If about so mnch time must be utilized, 
let it be done in that which is much more agree- 
able and profitable to the congregation, and in 
that which will bring forth more of the spirit of 
devotion from the pastor. 

How utterly absurd it is for a minister to 
read an entire hymn of five stanzas — unless he 
reads it with the spirit — and at the conclusion 
thereof sa^^ to the congregation— '' You will 
please omit, in singing, the 3d,= 4th and 5th 
stanzas . ' ' 'Twere better had he omitted, in read- 
ing, the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th stanzas. In- 
deed it were far better, in a devotional sense, for 
his good and for that of his congregation, to 
simply announce the hymn and let the choir and 
the congregation utilize the time in singing. The 
latter will have a restful influence while the 
former has a restless influence. 

There is too much form in the pulpit, too 
much shell to crack before getting at the meat. 
The congregation becomes weary before the 
minister begins his sermon ; hence it cannot be 



162 HYMN READING. 

expected to have its desired eifect. The prayer— 
possibly the prayers— the scripture lesson and 
the singing may all be essential to get the pas- 
tor and people in sympathy with each other, 
and in sympathy with the occasion. They are 
links of a chain, all of which have a special value, 
and to these may be added the hymn reading if 
it is well done ; if not, it is the -weak link and 
mars the eifect of all, no matter hov^ strong may 
be the remainder of the chain, as we all know 
that ' 'No chain is stronger than its weakest link. ' ' 

Every minister should carefully pave his way 
to his sermon, but he should not expect, if he 
takes his people over cobble-stones to have them 
in condition to enjoy or be benefited by the 
potion he has so carefully, earnestly and prayer- 
fully prepared for them. 

Hymns should be wisely chosen. They may 
contain a thought that will serve as an anchor 
to some storm-tossed soul, that has but drifted 
into what will prove to be the harbor for a sin- 
sick and turbulent spirit. 

Why are hynms read ? The origin of hymn 



HYMX READING. 163 

reading grew- out of a necessit3\ It dates back 
to many years ago when hymn books were 
scarce, choirs unknown, and church organs 
existed only in the fertile imagination of some 
inventive geniiis. It was then that the pastor 
or deacon possessed about the only h^^mn book 
in the church, and from this he read the h^-mns 
— not for any expression, not with anj^ partic- 
ular expression, but with and for a purpose; 
viz., that all might hear, and that all might sing. 
He gave them two lines at a time — 

" All hail the pow'er of Jesus" uame 
Let angels prostrate fall." 

"Sing." And they did sing, and thoroughly 
enjoyed the singing as they sang with the spirit 
of devotion. The purpose for which the h^^mns 
were read was accomplished, but to-day, h^^mn 
reading is w^hollj^ unnecessary-, fraught wdth 
man^' drawbacks, and should be wholh' aban- 
doned unless thcA' are read with a desire to 
express the thought, to impress the thought, 
and to inspire the congregation. In any case, 
study is requisite and it has its reward. The 



164 HYMN READING. 

minister chooses the hymn to suit his theme, and 
he should make of it what it is capable of— a 
valuable acquisition in the preparation of his 
people for his sermon. 

Hymns are divided into several classes, and 
should be read according to the individual 
class. 

When the minister has chosen his hymns, his 
next step should be to ascertain to which class 
each hymn belongs; i. e., supplication, medita- 
tion, exhortation, narration. A hymn may 
include all these modes of expression. 

If the hymn is in the form of a supplication, 
then the minister should supplicate; i. e., the 
words should not bespoken to the congregation 
but for the congregation and for himself As 
an illustration of this class, v^e have the hymn— 

" My faith looks up to Thee, 
Thou Lamb of Calvary ! " 

An example of the meditative style may be 
found in those soulful words 

"I'm laearer my home to-day 
Than ever I've been before." 



HYMN READING. 165 

In the reading of this hymn, the minister acts 
as a mouth-piece for the entire congregation. 
By placing himself into a meditative mood, he 
can the better bring his people into the same 
state of feeling. He should, by his reading, im- 
press upon all his hearers, that they are '' Nearer 
the bound of life where they lay their burdens 
down," that all are "Nearer leaving the cross, 
nearer gaining the crown." While he includes 
the congregation, he should take care, that by 
his reading he does not exclude himself 

As an example of exhortation, we would 
refer you to the joyful coronation in which all 
are exhorted to participate. 

" All hail the power of Jesus' name 
Let angels prostrate fall." 

In the narrative style of reading, ^we will 
furnish two examples which are in marked con- 
trast with each other. 

What darker scene can be depicted to a con- 
gregation than that of midnight on a mountain ? 
and what is more calculated to touch the 
sympathetic heart, than to tell of the anguish 



166 HYMN READING. 

of that ''man of sorrows " who ^was pleading, 
ay pleading alone ? 

There are gardens of Gethsemane all over the 
world ! There are mountain brows that be- 
come darker ! There are stars that become dim ! 
There are always souls that are pleading that 
the cup may pass from them, but like Him of 
old, they, too, must drink of its bitterness, even 
to the dregs. Such a sorrowing soul may be 
found in nearly every congregation. Then with 
what care should the minister read the hymn 

" Tis midnight! and on Olive's bro^w 
The star is dimmed that lately shone ; 
Tis midnight ! In the garden now 
The suffering Savior prays alone." 

Then again, the minister has the privilege of 
changing the dark and turbulent waters to the 
song of joy, as heard in the clear ripple of the 
mountain brook when he tells us of The old,- old 
story," for 

" More wonderful it seems 
Than all the golden fancies 
Of all our ofolden dreams." 



\ 



HYMN READING. 167 

" I love to tell the story! 

It did so mucli for me ! 

And that is just the reason 

I tell it now to thee." 
Suppose we mvest the reading with the 
result of only ear-life and eye-life ! By omitting 
the soul-life, as in the case of nine out of every 
ten hymn-readers, what would be the effect upon 
a congregation ? We should like to voice a few- 
lines that you may the better judge 

" I love to tell the story ! 
It did so much for me ! 
And that is just the reason 
I tell it now to thee." 

Is that the reason? Does the soul shine 
forth through its windows and assure us that 
w^e are in sympathy ^th the thought ? No, not 
when reading it in such a soul-less manner. 

We may tolerate carelessness and heartless- 
ness of expressions in society, but at the sacred 
desk it is unpardonable. 

Among other faults that exist in hymn-read- 
ing is what elocutionists term 'inflectional 
tune," more generally known as ''sing-song." 



168 HYMN READING. 

Such reading is common with children for it 
originates with the nursery rhymes. The 
pecuUar jingle given to the lines, makes it 
attractive to the child, and is an aid in memor- 
izing. We trace the same song through school, 
even in giving the multiplication table. 

Whenever you hear that sing-song manner, 
whether in the nursery, in the school-room, or 
in the pulpit, you will be perfectly safe in accept- 
ing it as a sure indication of the absence of 
thought, at least the absence of all expression 
of thought, which, of itself, marks the absence 
of iitzpression. 

As proof of this, stop the boy ^when he is 
singing his multiplication-table of 2's, and 
ask him to tell you the result of t~wo times six. 
You will observe that you have placed an ob- 
struction on the track that causes him to halt, 
or throws him completely off. Before he is posi- 
tively assured of the result he wanders bagk to 
the beginning, and either mentally or in an 
undertone he repeats his song till he reaches the 
number called for. The thought has never been 



HYMN READING. 169 

impressed, he has simply learned the words 
through an imitative process. 

Again, if you desire to number a class of 
twenty or more having each, in turn, call his 
number, you will find, in the majority of cases 
that as soon as they enter the teens they will 
begin to singtht numbers, thus : — 1-2-3, etc. 

We will carry this sing-song through another 
grade on its v/ayto the adult in poetry-reading, 
and to the minister in hymn-reading. 

Pass through thehallsof many of our schools 
of to-da^', and listen to the class in oral spelling. 
You will scarcely need to slacken your pace, in 
fact 3^ou need not enter the building, for the 
untrained voice is very penetrating. Listen! 
The teacher gives the class thunder — to spell. 

I n r 

Thun I t h u thun d e Thun 

der. I der. der 

Bar bar 

ous. 
r r 

"b a b a 

bar bar ous 

us 

Bar bar 

us. 

Surely it is bar-bar-ous. 



170 HYMN READING. 

Why even the teacher strikes the same notes 
every time, but not always in the same gentle 
(?) way. 

Is it any wonder that the innate sweetness 
of many of our lady teachers — but m^c will stop 
right there, and remind you that ^weare talking 
of hymn-reading or hymn-singing. 

This unnecessary prolongation and sing-song 
of which we have spoken is very objectionable 
and disagreeable even in the school-room, and 
much more so in the pulpit. 

Faults are largely manufactured in the pri- 
mary grades of our public schools. What may 
be excusable in a child, is not always permissible 
in a man. 

We ^would like to suggest a motto for the 
minister to have framed and placed in his study 
as a constant reminder of his need to study the 
hymns, and lay by the faults of childhood. We 
will take our motto from the scriptures : '' When 
I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood 
as a child, I thought as a child ; but when I 
became a man, I put away childish things." 



HYMX READING. 171 

Let US look for a moment and see to what 
extent this inefFective and Jefectiue hymn read- 
ing is found among our ministers; i. e., this 
tendency to sing-song. 

" There is a fountain filled with blood, 
Drawn from Immanuers veins, 
And sinners plunged beneath that flood 
Lose all their guilty stains." 

Ta ta ta ta, ta ta ta 

Ta ta ta ta, ta ta 

This reading finds its counterpart— though 
not in measure — in the familiar nursery rhyme. 

"Dickory, dickorj^ dock, 
The mouse ran up the clock. 
The clock struck one 
And down it run 
Dickory, dickory, dock." 

The last ^word in every line of the hymn is 
generally pushed over the pulpit to the floor 
with such force that it is quite suggestive of a 
combative element. 

You will observe that there is no thought 
expressed when reading a hymn in that manner ; 
for, unimportant words are made prominent, 



^72 HYMN READING. 

and important words lose their significance. 
The word veins has nothing to do with the 
thought, and is necessary only for the rhyming. 
Then again, how often such reading mater- 
ially changes the sense of a hymn by completely 
breaking a thought in twain. To illustrate, — 

" Just as I am! -without one plea 

But that thy blood was shed for me 
And that thou bidst me come to thee." 

' By reading this hymn with a falling inflection 
on plea, assures us that he has no plea, not even 
one. 

"Just as I am ! Without one plea." 
Whereas, we are informed in the lines immed- 
iately following, that there are two pleas. 

1st — " But that thy blood was shed for me, 
2d — "And that thou bidst me come to thee. 

Hence the falling inflection at the end of the 
first line completely destroys the sense, and in 
fact makes a statement that is untrue. The 
falling inflection comes on the word ''am," as 
that is a statement of itself, the conditionsheing 
an aAer consideration. 



HYMN READING. 173 

Closelj^ allied to the error of a falling inflec- 
tion at the end of each line is the very prevalent 
fault of always pausing at the end of a line in 
poetry. 

A pause should be made only when the sense 
demands it, and only where the sense demands 
it. Trying to preserve the rhyme by the pause 
is done at the expense of the thought, andsome- 
mes of the truth. 

This pausing versus sense reminds us of a 
young raan who ^was called upon in class, to rise 
and read a stanza, the concluding lines of ^vhich 
were : — 

' ' And when the wind blew 
It rocked her puny mansion. 

The last syllable of the last word did not 
appear upon the same line as the first syllable, 
so the young man stopped ^where the line 
stopped. 

' ' And when the wind blew 
It rocked her puny man." 

After taking his seat, he saw the rest of the 
word and thinking the remaining syllable to be 



174 HYMN READING. 

two words he sprang to his feet, saying, sigh 
on ; thereby making as much of the line as possi- 
ble. He expressed as much thought as is often 
given in hymn reading. 

Before leaving this branch of the pulpit work 
we v^ish to point out one more error in hymn 
reading, and in fact, in the reading of all poetry. 
It is slovenliness, arising from laziness and 
carelessness ; the result of which is not the most 
desirable, especially in sacred or solemn ^writ- 
ings. We will cite a number of instances that 
need no comments. 

" Heaven -with hosannas | rings." 

not 
. Heaven with hosanna's rings. 



What it utters is it's only stock and store.' 

not 

What it utters is its only stockin store. 



We'll stand the storm, it won't be long 
We'll anchor by and by." 
not 
We'll lank her by and by. 



HYMN READING. 175 

One sweetly solemn thought 
Conies to me o'er and o'er." 

not 
Come stoo me o'er and o'er. 



" Let me see then what there at is." 

not 

Let me see then what the rat is. 



f 



" His father's heart was awed with grief." 

not 
His father's heart v/as sawed with grief. 

We trust that the examples just cited may 
impress upon the minister the need of more care 
and study in the reading of his hymns. 

It is more essential that ^we mind the 
thought, than that we mind the printed pauses. 
The printed pauses govern the thought to the 
interpreter but the unseen pauses govern the 
thought from the interpreter. 

''Ruskin gives us a word of encourage- 
ment by saying: — ''If I could have a son or 
daughter possessed of but one accomplishment 
in life, it should be that of good reading." 



;J^Y6 HYMN READING. 

During the latter years of the life of Ralph 
Waldo Emerson, it was our pleasure and honor 
to meet him many times, and many were the 
cheering words that fell from his lips; while from 
his pen wq record the following, from ^which we 
gain fresh inspiration. *'A good reader sum- 
mons the mighty dead from their tombs and 
makes them speak to us." 

We trust that the few hints given on Bible 
reading and hymn * reading may prove suffi 
ciently suggestive to awaken an interest and 
determination that will prove highly beneficial 
to pastor and people. 

We Avill next invite your attention to a few 
practical thoughts concerning the third and 
most important part of the minister's public 
work. Bible reading and hymn reading are but 
the steps to Pulpit Eloquence. 



PULPIT ZLOgUENGL 



I 



Eloquence is just as essential at the sacred 
desk, as it is at the bar of justice or upon the 
rostrum. We do not think it is too much to say 
that eloquence may be considered the business 
of the church, though it is too often considered 
only an accomplishment, and thus becomes 
oratorj^ instead. 

The very business of the minister is to talk, 
and to talk so as to persuade ; that, is ^what ^we 
term eloquence. To persuade he must be heard, 
and to be heard he must talk so as to please the 
ear ^while informing the mind ; then he is ^what 
we term an orator. He may have great power 
in his eloquence, he will have great po^wer, but 
he will have greater power if he uses nature's 
hand-maid, orator}^, (as eloquence is nature). 

(177) 



178 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

'Twere better that he have eloquence without 
oratory, than oratory w^ithout eloquence. 

The pulpit speaker differs from all others in 
the fact that he is not open to answer, therefore 
he has it all his o^wn ^way. He speaks not 
merely as a man oftering his own opinion to 
others, but as one who bears a message from a 
higher authority. Moreover he may assume 
that his congregation are in substantial agree- 
ment with him, consequently he has no need to 
prove his title. He is before them of his own 
right and they acknow^ledge him to be their 
teacher. More than that, the subjects of which 
the preacher treats, are of the mightiest moment 
to all his hearers ; the highest and the humblest 
have an equal interest in the world against 
vvliose temptations he ^warns, and in the heaven 
to whose joys he invites. 

There is not a human w^eakness or a virtue, 
not a passion or a sentiment, that does not 
come legitimately within the sphere of his 
discourse. Whatever is nearest and dearest to 
us, whatever we most desire or most dread, all 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 179 

that is kno^vn and all that is unknown, the busy 
present and the great dark ftitnre are his to 
wield at his will — for winning, for deterring, for 
detracting, for terrifying. He can persuade or 
excite or awe his hearers at his pleasure, He 
may resort to all Avonders of art aiid of nature 
for illustrations ; and if he comprehends the 
grandeur of his mission, he has the stimulous of 
consciousness, that with God's blessing, the 
words he utters will save souls. 

There is many a good faithful minister who 
is often disheartened because he does not meet 
any response to his most earnest and heart-felt 
appeals. He feels that he is a faithful laborer in 
the Master's vineyard ; hence is the more sur- 
prised that his efforts are so fruitless. Such a 
one belongs to a large class of ministers who 
forget that they must lay hold of ever^^ means 
of improvement and helpfulness that comes 
within reach. 

It is the duty of every minister to fully pre- 
pare himself not only in divining the thought, 
but to seek the best mode of giving it utterance. 



180 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

Not only pauses, emphasis, and inflections 
need much care, but voice and body should be 
under perfect control. The voice too often 
proves a barrier in the way of a speaker's access 
to the minds and hearts of his audience. 

The voice is a God-given gift. It is a power 
in the pulpit, a great po^wer for good and one 
which we see exercised outside the pulpit with 
great effect. It is a powder which God has given 
to be used to His glory, and the minister can no 
more neglect its use and cultivation than he can 
properly neglect any other gift from His hand. 

The human voice has been made to reach the 
heart by its melodies, and to stir it up by its 
thrilling vibrations. It is the very trumpet of 
the truth, and by its certain sounds, we arm 
ourselves for the battle. 

We might as well say that we despise the ear 
for its office of carrying the sound, as to under- 
value the manner in which those sounds are 
made. 

We are well a^vvare that there is much preju- 
dice to contend Avithwhen we speak of eloquence 



I 



I 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. . 181 

in the pulpit. Let us look again at that word 
eloquence and see what it implies. 

Eloquence is the act of placing opinions be- 
fore men in the manner most conducive to 
persuasion and conviction. We do not mean to 
imply by this that these opinions are placed 
before men only, nor do we imply that w^omen 
are out of the realm and hopelessly beyond per- 
suasion and conviction. , 

Worcester defines eloquence as "The art of 
clothing thoughts in such language, and of 
uttering them in such a manner, as is adapted 
to produce conviction and persuasion." 

Webster tells us that '' Eloquence is the ex- 
pression or utterance of strong emotion, in a 
manner adapted to excite correspondent emo- 
tions in others." 

Worcester includes oratory and elocution in 
his definition, while Webster holds strictly to 
eloquence. 

You can teach oratory and elocution but you 
cannot teach eloquence. Those who are gifted 
with eloquence should not neglect getting all 



182 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

helpful aid from the art of oratory. It may 
perhaps be objected here, that sacred truth 
needs no art to enforce it, no ornament to set it 
off, that the apostles were artless and illiterate 
men ; and yet they gained the great end of their 
mission — the conviction of multitudes, and the 
establishment of their religion ; that therefore 
there is no necessity for this attention to 
delivery in order to qualify the preacher for his 
sacred office, or to render his labors successful. 
To this, v^^e answer, the apostles were not all 
artless and illiterate. St. Paul, the greatest and 
most general propagator of Christianity is an 
eminent exception. He could be no mean orator 
who confounded the Jews at Damascus (Acts, 
9-22) ; made a prince, before whom he stood to 
be judged, confess that he had almost persuaded 
him to be a convert to a religion everywhere 
spoken against (Acts, 26-28 and 28-22) ; threw 
another into a fit of trembling as he sat upon 
his judgment seat (Acts, 24-25) : made a defense 
before the learned court of areopagus, which 
gained for him a convert of a member of the 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 183 

court itself (Acts, 17-34) ; struck a whole people 
with such admiration that they took him for 
the god of eloquence (Acts, 14-12) ; and gained 
him a place in Longinus' list of famous orators." 
A great many ministers are honest in their 
belief that whom the Lord callethHe alsoquali- 
fieth. Either they are mistaken in the origin of 
the call, or they are qualified only in proportion 
to their capacity to receive. Such ministers 
quote Paul as being the very personification of 
all defects of vocal utterance and physical pre- 
sentation. True, he had defects and great ones, 
and he had art enough and eloquence enough to 
almost cover or obscure them. What greater 
proof do we ^want of this assertion than that 
contained in the London Spectator, No. 633. 
"It was with no small pleasure I latel^^ met with 
a fragment of Longinus, which is preserved as 
a testimony of that author's judgment, at the 
beginning of a manuscript of the New^ Testa- 
ment in the Vatican Library. After that author 
has numbered up the most celebrated orators 
among the Grecians, he says : ' add to these 



184 pui.p:t eloquence. 

Paul of Tarsus, the patron of an opinion not 
yet fully proved.' " 

But a great many of our worthy divines 
claim that what we call eloquence is not elo- 
quence, nor oratory, but the Holy Ghost. And 
they futher claim that if a man has the Holy 
Ghost he is all powerful and needs no outside 
agencies or aids. If the Holy Ghost were all 
sufficient, and every true minister possessed it, 
as every true minister should, inasmuch as God 
is no respecter of persons, then the whole v^orld 
would or could be converted in an incredibly 
short time. There are men who delude them- 
selves with this idea, but whose lives are so in- 
consistent and who so defile the temple that 
God has given them for the indwelling of the 
soul, that they have no right to expect greater 
results, and they must surely know that the 
Holy Ghost has no affinity for unclean habita- 
tions. There are many others who claim to have 
this pov^er ever with them, yet will in no way 
endeavor to improve their manner of delivery. 

Every minister is an instrument in the hands 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 185 

of the Supreme being and it is his bonnden duty 
to keep himself in the best working order. If, 
as an instrument, he becomes dull or gets rusty, 
he becomes comparativeh^ useless, and he alone 
is responsible. 

'Tis true "The clerg^'- bear the messages of 
God in earthen vessels, but that is no reason 
why they should display their mereearthiness." 

Let it eyer be borne in mind that truth, even 
truth when repulsiyely arrayed, repels rather 
than attracts the hungry soul. 

There are many orators in the pulpit who 
are not eloquent. Their oratory gets awa^^ 
with them, but it does not get away \yith any 
one else, especially with the sinners. 

You may begin to think that ministers are 
a yery peculiar class of people. No ; no more so 
than the people to w^hom they preach. There 
are congregations that will not be satisfied un- 
less their pastor is on the jump eyery moment 
and pounds the dust out of the pulpit cushion 
eyery Sunday. Talk to those people of art, of 
reserved power ? They would appreciate art in 



186 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

its quiet but forcible manner, about as much as 
did the man from the rural districts, who, when 
in the city was seized with the toothache. He 
called upon a dentist to have his tooth ex- 
tracted. This was done quickly and artistically, 
to the great astonishment of the patient. He 
was still more astonished when informed that 
the charges for this skillful work was 50 cents. 
*' What ! 50 cents ? Why the tooth was out be- 
fore I knew it. There's a man out our way who 
drags you all around the room for half an hour 
before he'll let go and he only charges a 
quarter." 

Every minister should conform to his sur- 
roundings. If he is preaching to intelligent and 
highly educated audiences his manner and mat- 
ter should be of the highest order. Should he 
be called to go among a class of men who belong 
to the lower stations in life, he should descend 
to that station in such a manner as not to 
lower himself but to elevate them. His terms 
of expression must be more simple, his vehicles 
of thought less polished, but he need not couch 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 187 

his language in uncouth terms, but he must ex- 
press himself in a manner that will appeal more 
to the heart than to the head, more to the 
emotions than to the understanding. As an 
engine backs down to a train, so must the min- 
ister go down to such a people, then like the 
engine, he should be able to move as he wills. 

Many ministers miss the mark and shoot 
right over the heads of the people. 

This misapplication is well illustrated by an 
incident in the life of the late John B. Gough. He 
used to allude to it as misdirected eloquence. 

He addressed a large company of miners in 
Pennsylvania, on the subject of temperance, but 
secured very few signers to the pledge. When 
Mr. Gough had concluded his speech, the over- 
seer of the mines asked him if he would be will- 
ing to listen to one of the miners — a convert to 
temperance — speak a few words to the boys. 
Mr. Gough replied in the affirmative, though 
the over-seer assured him that the language of 
the speaker might be somewhat rough and un- 
cultured. The miner arose, came forward took 



188 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

his place on the stand, and looking at his 
swarthy comrades as if he were proud of them, 
said :— * 

His speech was the speech of true, native 
eloquence, unembellished by oratory. Mr. 
Gough has often remarked that one such speech 
as that given by the miner, was v^orth fifty such 
as he had just given; L e., for such an occasion. 

The miner appealed to the heart and his 
words found lodgment. Mr. Gough appealed 
to the head and the words rebounded. 

Mr. Gough's mode of intellectual travel 
was far too polished and too fast for them. 
He passed them almost without a passenger 
with his express train and parlor car ; but the 
miner was well patronized with the old freight 
train and caboose. That miner was good in his 
place, but he could not have filled the place 
of John B. Gough. 

There is a class of ministers who are akin to 

* This being given wholly from memory and never having 
been written by Mr. Gough or myself, the words need not neces- 
sarily be given in the body of this treatise. They must be heard, 
not read, to be appreciated. 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 189 

a class of elocutionists. They spring up mush- 
room-like and in their sudden development they 
flash, meteor-like before the people. They are 
good of their kind and among their kind, but 
their rough and uncouth manners and general 
illiteracy are more or less repulsive to an edu- 
cated and refined audience. 

A pov^erful sermon v^as once preached on 
justifiable anger, using as a text : ''I am fear- 
fully and w^onderfully made; " reading thev\rord 
made, as if it v^^ere mad. The minister argued 
that it v^as right to get mad, because the Bible 
says; — 'T am fearfully and wonderfully mad." 

Another minister preached on ^' skin-v^orms" 
from the passage of Job ;" after my skin, v^orms 
shall destroy my flesh." He asserted that Job 
had "skin-worms" because he spoke of the 
skin- worms destroying his flesh. 

Another preached very fervently on the sin of 
playing marbles, because the Savior said : 
"Marvel not my breachern" — he, reading it 
"marb/e not." 

Still another made an attack upon the 



190 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

Knight Templars endeavoring to prove that no 
Knight could enter Heaven for the Bible was 
very clear on that point, saying that ''There 
shall be no night there." 

We know of a minister in Iowa, but a very 
short time since, who claimed that he could fully 
demonstrate that there was such a thing as less 
than nothing. Turning to the black-board — he 
was preaching in a school-house — he drew a 
cipher thereon ; and, looking at his audience he 
exclaimed ^^ there, is nothing;" then with a 
wonderful degree of intelligence (?) he proved 
his assertion by placing a smaller cipher inside 
of the larger one, and with a triumphant air 
exclaimed, ^^ there, is less than nothing." The 
congregation looked at the ciphers on th^black- 
board, then at the cipher on the platform, and 
they admitted that the undeniable living' evi- 
dence stood before them, proving conclusively 
that there is something less than nothing. 

We believe that every man may exert a 
power over certain of his fellows, but a man to 
be a leader must, of necessity, be in advance of 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 191 

those whom he would lead ; hence we assert 
that it is preposterous for men of no education 
or refinement, to stand before cultured and 
intelligent audiejtices, and endeavor to enlighten 
them on the mighty truths of the gospel. Thc^" 
ma^^ be good, earnest, whole-souled men, who 
are thoroughh^ imbued with the spirit of their 
work, and may be doing well with the knowl- 
edge thej^ have, but the}^ must bear in mind that 
the stream cannot rise above its source. It was 
this class of ministers we had in view when we 
said, under the subject of Bible reading, that 
every minister should know his Greek Testament 
and his Hebrew Bible. It is only an enlightened 
man who can enlighten. 

These men who so suddenly appear before 
the thinking world, v^all as suddenly disappear 
if thej are of sudden growth. That which 
matures quickh^, decaj^s readily. It takes an 
oak ahundred years, perhaps, to getits growth, 
but a cabbage requires but three months, 
perhaps less. There is not anything on the face 
of the earth that is of any worth, any impor- 



192 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

tance, any value, that is not long in coming to 
maturity. He who appears to accomplish it in 
some sudden inspiration — if it be lasting — is 
only bringing to the notice of the world, some 
force, some thought, some power that has been 
hidden, preparing itself underground, or beneath 
appearance, perhaps, for many years. The 
century-plant will bloom in a few days, but it 
takes a century for it to get ready to bloom." 

We belieYC that the minister of to-day, should 
have a thorough training in a theological 
seminary. We have heard the most absurd 
statements made from the pulpit, in consequence 
of a lack of biblical knowledge, and too often 
those statements have proved a stumbling block 
in the way of a seeker after truth. 

The theological course will not make a min- 
ister, any more than the college will make a 
scholar. 

We think the theological seminaries are often 
at fault in receiving men ^whom they know can 
never be successful in the ministry, but will, in- 
stead, clog the wheels of Christain progress, 



PULPIT ELOOrEXCE. 193 

and be an elephant on the hands of the unfortu- 
nate Christian community upon whom they 
must be saddled. 

Those men whose office it is to accept or 
refuse, should be as honest and conscientious, 
as was the chairman of a Scotch presbytery 
before whom a jonng man appeared as a candi- 
date for the ministry. The young man had 
worked for years at broom-making and had 
achieved a reputation therein. His case was 
carefully considered by the presbytery, and the 
chairman in due time waited upon the young 
man, saying, '' My brother, the Lord calls some 
men to the ministry, some to the farm, some to 
one place, some to another, according to their 
. ability. We have concluded that the Lord has 
given you a special call — for broom-making. 
May His blessing rest upon you." 

When we are called upon to pass our 
judgment upon applicants for the rostrum, or 
for the stage, we think v^e are able to judge as 
to the ability of the applicant. Were we not 
conscientious in the matter we might fill our 



194 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

coiicrs with that, the love of which is "the root 
of all evil," but we could never uproot the evil 
w^e had done. 

It may be, however, that our presbyters are 
actuated by the same motives as those o^ the 
old lady v^ho made it a rule never to turn away 
a beggar as unworthy fearing she might wrong 
one who was worthy. 

There is many a man fitted for the pulpit, 
who never ftts the pulpit. There is many a man 
fitted for the pulpit who is better fitted for the 
plough. There is many a man at the plough 
who might be a power in the pulpit. 

Parents too frequently o'er step their rights, 
or at least make serious mistakes in forcing a 
child into a profession or trade, for which he 
Las no liking, no ability. You are probably 
familiar with the illustration so often cited in 
support of this argument : — "A young man was 
a born machinist and he might have become as 
famous as Edison, had he been allowed to foUo^w 
the bent of his genius. Hungry for anything in 
the shape of a machine upon which he might be 



PULPIT ELOOUEXCE. 195 

allow'ed to look. Btit his father, 1)}^ a strong 
hand, put him through a theological seminary 
and made a stupid minister of him." 

There is a great responsibility resting upon 
those who are called upon to pass judgment. 
'Twas but a few weeks ago that a friend of 
ours, a D. D. said to us, " The worst thing lever 
did in my life was to encourage or rather per- 
suade the Rev. to enter the ministr3^" We 

knew the reverend gentleman of whom he 
spoke, and we knew him as a noted author, a 
brilliant thinker, a polished orator, a minister 
who drew, by his many qualities, thousands of 
people QYery Sabbath ; and they were as intel- 
lectual a people as ever assembled under one 
roof. He always gave them a treat, but it was 
vv^holly an intellectual treat. He was, as Ave 
have said, an orator, but he was not eloquent. 
7Ie brought his goods from the mental store- 
house, for his soul was dark and the cobwebs 
of lust and deceit had gathered around it. He 
was a man of great possibilities. We predicted 
his downfall, and he did fall; ay, ''Fell like the 



196 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

snowflakes from Heaven to Hell." Hehasdone 
much by his voice and his pen, and j^et would 
any one venture to say that he was at any time 
acted upon by the Holy Ghost ? 

We take the same view of the ministry as we 
do of our bodies, i. e., God permits many a man 
to be ill, but he does not necessarily will it. 
God permits many a man to occupj^ a pulpit, 
but he, does not necessarily ^11 it. When you 
are ill you must lay hold of those means that 
will restore you. A minister may be ill or lame 
in his professional office, and it is his duty to 
lay hold of every means within his pOAver to 
make himself more worthy the calling. While 
he labors earnestly in so carefully preparing the 
matter, he should not neglect the manner in 
which that matter is to be presented. 

In the Pennsylvania Law Journal we find 
the following thought which is apropos to this 
subject. "How manj^ a jur^^ has thought a 
speaker's argument without force, because his 
manner v^^as so ; and have found a verdict 
against law and against evidence, because they 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 197 

had been charmed into delusion by the potent 
fascination of some gifted orator." 

If the lawyer can use this power in the de- 
fense of wrong-, surel3" the minister should not 
hesitate to use it in the defense of right. 

We often hear the objection raised that rules 
of oratory will cramp one in his expressions. 
As well may you say that the rules of grammar 
interfere ^th the fluency of speech. Hence we 
assert that "this prejudice against the study of 
oratory is as unreasonable as the prejudice 
against the stud^^ of grammar, or rhetoric, or 
logic. The orator need be no more troubled 
with his rules, than is the grammarian who, in 
conversation, talks correctly without mentally 
parsing every sentence he utters." 

Wendell Phillips was a most polished speaker 
and as all know, a most powerful one. When 
questioned as to the secret of his power he re- 
plied: — "It is the burning love of truth in my 
heart that must come out." He did not rely 
wholly upon his native povv^er, but used art to 
enforce the truth, vet no one ever saw the art. 



198 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

When listening to his eloquence. Yoti could but 
observe his quiet manner, and would wonder 
ofttimes at the greatness of his power. Try to 
turn from him when he was thus manifesting 
that reserved power and you w^ould find he had 
woven about you a chain so subtle and 3^et so 
strong, that you were held as if entranced. He 
seldom gesticulated, but when he did it carried 
the more force in consequence of its infrequencj^, 
and the thought that impelled it. When he 
spoke in tones of sarcasm in his bitter denuncia- 
tions of the wrong enacted in his day, he struck 
fearlessly and yet, even in this, he used his art, 
for he never did his ^work clumsily nor did he use 
a blunt instrument, but he stabbed with a 
stiletto. He said vidiat he meant and he meant 
v\rhat he said. 

In order to inspire the minister to greater 
zeal in his grand w^ork Vv^e will cite an incident 
in the life of Lacordaire — once well kno^wn in 
Paris, 

In order to preach a most effectual sermon on 
the crucifixion of the Savior, he had a rude 



PULPIT ELOQUEXCK. 199 

cross erected in the basement of his rectory. To 
this cross he attached himself and remained in 
solitary thought, suspended eight hours He 
then passed directly to the sanctuary without 
rest or nourishment, and delivered one of the 
most eloquent and thrilling discourses ever 
heard in Notre Dame. 

True, this v^^as for an unusual occasion, and 
he chose this unusual preparation in order to 
be equal to the occasion. 

There are various ways of presenting a ser- 
mon. One may be obliged to use his manu- 
script, another only notes or a skeleton, another 
may extemporize, while still another may be 
gifted as a memoriter. Each style may have its 
special points of excellence, as each of these 
avenues of expression will have some advan- 
tages, som.e drawbacks. 

None but a fluent speaker should ever try to 
extemporize. His hesitation is much more ob- 
jectionable than his manuscript. One must 
draw the distinction between using- his manu- 
script and abusing it. The speaker should at 



200 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

least, "be familiar enough with it not to be en- 
slaved to it. 

It is a patient and forgiving congregation 
^who v^ill listen to a man who preaches with 
down-cast eyes. No gestures should be made 
v\rhen the e3^es are not free from the manuscript. 

Neither gestures nor attitudes should be 
thought of at the time of making them. Pre- 
vious study should put the body under such 
perfect control that all gestures and attitudes 
should be but the spontaneous outburst of 
nature. Unless one is graceful by natuie, he 
should be made so by art, but he should forget 
his teaching the moment he steps before the 
public. If it has not become a part of him, 
'tv^ere better that it depart from him. "The 
best gestures I have ever known," says one, 
" are those I did not perceive.'' 

Before leaving this branch of our subject w^e 
desire to turn the Delsartean telescope upon our 
good natured brother. 

By this grandest of all systems we are 
brought face to face with man as he is. Every 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 201 

man, in every station in life, jDOssesses a three- 
fold nature, — the mental, moral and vital. A 
perfectlj^ developed individual is a rarity ; hence 
we will find one of these three elements pre- 
dominating. 

Thus v>^e find three t^^pes of ministers. The 
mental element predominating gives us a cold, 
critical, • methodical minister. The moral ele- 
ment predominating gives us the warm hearted, 
social, . congenial minister. The vital element 
predominating gives us the fiery, robust, 
wide-awake, broad-shouldered, broad-natured 
minister. 

The mental minister emerges from his stud^^ 
in a cold, intellectual atmosphere, as if he had 
just come from a refrigerator, and he gives his 
people facts, — cold, stubborn facts. His whole 
discourse is cold, critical, analytical. He preaches 
from the head and he preaches to the head, but 
he is the t3^pical minister for man 3^ of our stylish 
cit3^ churches, as the pastor is required to do all 
the thinking and all the praying and the people 
all the paying. 



202 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

Such churches never swell their numbers 
unless it be the result of some evangelist v^ho 
comes along for the good of the cause, and 
revives the pastor and the people. 

These mental ministers never make any con- 
verts, for that requires heart-work, not head- 
work, and heart-v^ork is out of their calibre. 

We often wonder what such a minister would 
do if he were to stumble over a convert. It is 
more likely the convert would stumble over hirh. 

The vital minister is a man full of animal 
magnetism, and though he gets many an erring 
one to forsake his evil ways, he is apt to rely too 
largely at times, on that outward strength, in 
consequence of which, sinners are driven into 
the fold, and the result is not always desirable, 
for men thus acted upon have a re-action, and 
they leap the bounds and become the so-called 
moral men of the world. 

The moral minister; i. e., the heart minister 
is the one for young men to emulate. Such a 
one has more or less of the vital element. We 
do not wish to be understood as speaking dis- 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 203 

paragingly of the vital nature. No, indeed. We 
admire it, but do not want it to be the predomi- 
nating element. 

A good, big heart — big expresses so much 
more than large — wants, and must have a good 
big"place in which to live. 

The moral minister is one who is ever 
actuated by the noblest impulses from the heart 
nature. He is trulj^ a Christian; i. e., Christ- 
like, never allowing an occasion to pass by 
unheeded if good can be done. He does not 
confine his work to the Sabbath and to the 
church, but, his is an e very-day religion. His 
preaching takes hold of men and keeps hold 
of them. 

Every minister should be true to nature, then 
he may be said to be truly dramatic. Art is an 
aid not a hindrance to nature. Every child is 
dramatic. A better t3^pe of the dramatic never 
walked the earth than the Savior ; no man ever 
spake as this man. The term dramatic is often 
confounded with the term theatrical, hence the 
prejudice existing. 



204 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. • 

During one of the lecture tours of the late John 
B. Gough, he ^^as waited upon by a church 
committee — who were more fastidious than 
wise — and was requested by them to be kind 
enough to avoid his usual theatrical manner, as 
the church-members were very ranch opposed 
to any such mannerisms. 

Mr. Gough appeared before that sedate 
audience ; but in order not to be theatrical — as 
they understood the term — he avoided being 
dramatic as he understood that term, hence 
w^as not natural. He stood, or tried to stand 
during his discourse, perfectly still. Just im- 
agine such a nature as his being quiet when 
he was speaking on the subject of intemperance, 
and especially as he recalled his seven years of 
v^orse than wasted life. There he stood with 
his whole soul on fire, and sending forth such 
^words as should have burned their ^way into 
the very souls of his hearers : but the fire -was 
smothered, because he ^vas restricted in his soul- 
ful expressions. 

He began his talk, however, with his arms 



PULPIT ELOnUEXCE. 205 

apparently pinioned to his side, l3ut, ever and 
anon, the thought would try to express itself 
other than vocally and his arms v^ould rise, but 
as quickly would he drop them as he thought of 
his admonition by that committee. We will en- 
deavor to give you a practical illustration of a 
man thoroughly aroused on his subject, Tvholly 
free from his manuscript, and battling with his 
emotions lest they should assert their rights. 



This was Mr. Gough's attempt to avoid 
being dramatic. What was the result? His 
hearers were disappointed and they were re- 
sponsible for it. He did not sustain the fame 
that had preceded him. Not long after, he was 
requested to return to the same people and 
repeat his lecture by giving it in his usual 
manner; in other words, they were anxious to 
listen to John B. Gough, for even when he ^ was 
restricted the^^ caught a glimpse and felt the 
r;lo\v of the latent fire that burned in the bosom 
cf that eloquent man. 



206 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

Let us encourage true dramatic power, and 
discourage all vain pomp and show. 

We abominate, from the very bottom of our 
elocutionary soul, anything that approaches 
theatrical mouthing and spouting and bluster, 
and the more so when it is practiced at the 
sacred desk. On the other hand we have no 
defense to make for the feeble, sickly, silly mum- 
bling and inefficiency of him who struts his little 
hour in the pulpit to the disgust of all common- 
sensed people ; and above all, may we be saved 
the punishment so often inflicted upon congre- 
gations who are obliged to listen to one who 
pours forth his strains in sanctimonious meas- 
ure. Such tones are false, and falseness is 
mockery. There should be reverence in the man, 
in the subject, in the occasion. Do not mistake 
the terms bathos and pathos. 

We do not blame the public for being preju- 
diced* against oratory and elocution when 
wrong ideas are inculcated by men who should 
have more judgment. 

Within a few weeks it was our painful priv- 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 207 

ilege to listen to three noted divines of elocu- 
tionary and oratorical renown. They were 
men of high positions and high salaries. We 
believe in, and advocate, true elocution ; but we 
believe it is not true art unless it places the 
minister back of the truth. He should stand 
behind the cross and let it completely o'er 
shadow him. 

The three men of renown to whom w^e re- 
ferred, took every occasion to show themselves, 
placing themselves by their profuse and mean- 
ingless gestures and attitudes, or motions, 
where they seemed to say, — look at me never 
mind the cross. I do not wish to impress upon 
you what was said, but that J said it. 

One of the three, fully illustrated this fact, 
for he impressed us with the idea that he was 
desirous of having all the congregation know 
his name, lest many would never know the 
great personage who stood before them, and 
to whom they had the honor of listening. We 
had not long to wait for the confirmation of 
our suspicions, for soon the minister in question. 



208 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

soared away on the wings of oratory — not 
eloquence— and when he had reached the dizzy 
height upon which was enthroned his name, he 
touched it as if by a magic Avand, and brought 
it forth, emblazoned in all the grandeur and the 
glory of self-illumination. 

Truly, there is a wide distinction between 
eloquence and oratory. Every minister should 
make of himself all that he can for the good of 
the cause, but should not use the cause for self 
exaltation. Bishop Andrews in a recent confer- 
ence in Indiana said : ''You have no business to 
be a bad preacher. Seize some fragment of 
divine truth and hold it in your mind shaping 
it, pondering it, until you can present it from 
your deepest soul. You have not simply to 
preach the truth, you must preach it adroitly. 
State felicitously those things which you say, 
put them into as attractive a dress as you can. 
The teaching man must be a knowing man. 
Every minister should be like a most perfect and 
pellucid glass, through which one sees not the 



PLXPIT ELOQUENCE. 20D 

glass nor thinks of it, but only the objects at 
which he looks." 

A minister should get into the atmosphere of 
his work, ere he attempts to breath it out upon 
those around him. We would like to \vrite this 
word before every hymn, every scripture lesson, 
everA' sermon. 

If a minister is kindly spoken to by some 
member of his congregation, or by his wife — or 
some other man's wife — of some fault that is 
fixing itself upon him in the wa3^ of a habit 
that will prove detrimental, he should receive 
such admonition with thankfulness, for the 
habit ^11 ever assert itself. 

A president of a theological seminary was 
giving a parting v^^ord to a class of seniors, and 
he illustrated, unconsciously, the force of habit. 
He said : ''I desire to impress upon you the 
necessit^^ of great care concerning habits of an\' 
kind that ma^^ rob j^ou of your power. Should 
ahabit fasten itself upon you ere you are aware 
of its detrimental effect, if you are determined to 
be no longer enslaved by it, 3'ou need not be. 



210 PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 

It is but necessary to employ your will, for," 
said he: — ''I speak from experience. In my 
younger days when I was preaching I used to 
have the habit of bringing my hand down on 
my head whenever I emphasized a 'word. I 
resolved to quit it, and I did quit it and IVe 
not done it from that day to this." (Bringing 
his hand unconsciously down on his head, as in 
daj^s of yore.) 

Every man has his mannerisms, and the 
greatest mistake of the elocutionist is his lack 
of discrimination in his endeavor to remove 
them. 

Many a naturally good speaker has, unfor- 
tunately, fallen into the hands of an inexper- 
ienced or judgment-lacking teacher, in conse- 
quence of which his wings are clipped with the 
professional shears, and he can no longer soar 
upon the wings of eloquence; whereas, he might 
have been an eagle in the oratorical world. 

The true teacher will readily discern between 
the mannerisms that are a power, and those 
that are at all detrimental. Mannerism is 



PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 211 

power, and the more marked it is, the more 
mcirked is the individuality, Mannnerisms 
should be natural and unstudied; they should 
belong to and be a part of one's self, for " Bor- 
rowed mannerisms, like borrow^ed garments 
seldom fit." What is becomming in one man 
may be verj^ unbecoming in another. 

Make the very best of what jon have and let 
the world know that jou are alive ; and, whei. 
you are dead, m.ake that equally apparent by 
the fact of being missed. 

In conclusion let us urge upon all ministers 
and all who aspire to the ministry, that greater 
importance should be placed on Bible reading, 
hymn reading and pulpit eloquence. Lose not 
an opportunity, nor an occasion for improve- 
ment. Cull the sweetness from every flower 
along 3^our pathway. Take into 3^our life all 
the purity and strength and grandeur of which 
it is capable ; then let your soul expand until its 
genial rays shall be felt on every hand. '' Reach 
out and touch the pulse of the world about you, 
and its thrill will give you life and usefulness. 




4 .. 



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